Moon Archives

May 30, 2023May 30, 2023 by Carolyn Collins Petersen

HAKUTO-R’s Software Got Confused at the Last Minute, Causing it to Crash into the Moon

LROC narrow-angle-cameras mosaic of the HAKUTO-R Mission 1 Lunar Lander impact site. The blue cross marks the impact site near Atlas crater. Courtesy of NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University — LROC narrow-angle-cameras mosaic of the HAKUTO-R Mission 1 Lunar Lander impact site. The blue cross marks the impact site Courtesy of NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University

On April 26, 2023, people around the world watched as the HAKUTO-R lander made its final approach for a landing on the Moon. It had been “on the road” since December 11, 2022, and completed eight Mission 1 milestones. Numbers 9 and 10 would have been landing and establishing a base on the Moon. As we all know, it reached the lunar surface, but not the way the ispace team expected. NASA images confirmed its final resting place.

May 30, 2023May 30, 2023 by Matt Williams

How Much Damage Will Lunar Landings Do to Lunar Orbiters?

Artist rendering of an Artemis astronaut exploring the Moon’s surface during a future mission. Credit: NASA

Multiple missions are destined for the Moon in this decade. These include robotic and crewed missions conducted by space agencies, commercial space entities, and non-profit organizations. The risks and hazards of going to the Moon are well-documented, thanks to Apollo Program and the six crewed missions it sent to the lunar surface between 1969 and 1972. But unlike the “footprints and flags” of yesterday, the plan for the coming decade is to create a “sustained program of lunar exploration and development.”

This means establishing a greater presence on the Moon, building infrastructure (like habitats, power systems, and landing pads), and missions regularly coming and going. Given the low-gravity environment on the Moon, spacecraft kick up a lot of lunar regolith (aka., “Moon dust”) during takeoff and landing. This regolith is electrostatically-charged, very abrasive, and wreaks havoc on machines and equipment. In a recent study, NASA researchers Philip T. Metzger and James G. Mantovani considered how much damage all this regolith could inflict on orbiting spacecraft.

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May 30, 2023May 30, 2023 by Nancy Atkinson

China is Planning to Have Humans on the Moon by 2030

Image from a video animation showing the proposed Chinese lunar research station. Credit: China Media Group.

As NASA prepares to return astronauts to the Moon with Artemis III, China is ramping up its efforts for a crewed lunar landing, targeting earlier than 2030. Lin Xiqiang, the deputy director of China’s Manned Space Agency announced that the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program (CLEP) is preparing for a “short stay on the lunar surface and human-robotic joint exploration.”

May 25, 2023May 25, 2023 by Nancy Atkinson

NASA May Have Found Hakuto-R’s Crash Site

This animated image shows the before and after comparison of the possible Hakuto-R impact site. Arrow A points to a prominent surface change with higher reflectance in the upper left and lower reflectance in the lower right (opposite of nearby surface rocks along the right side of the frame). Arrows B-D point to other changes around the impact site [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].

New images from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) appear to show the crash site where the Japanese Hakuto-R Mission 1 lunar lander impacted the surface of the Moon a month ago.

The refrigerator-sized HAKUTO-R was built by the startup company iSpace and was launched in December 2022 with the goal of becoming the first commercial lunar lander to touch down safely on the Moon. However, during landing operations on April 25, 2023, communications ceased just moments before touchdown should have occurred, and the lander was presumed lost.

May 16, 2023May 17, 2023 by Matt Williams

The Moon has a Solid Core Like the Earth

A new study suggests that the moon's magnetic field from a dynamo in its liquid metallic core (inner red sphere) lasted 1 billion years longer than thought. (Image credit: Hernán Cañellas (provided by Benjamin Weiss))

Some fifty years ago, the Apollo Program sent the first astronauts to the Moon. In addition to the many science experiments they conducted on the surface, the Apollo astronauts brought back samples of lunar rock for analysis. The Soviet Luna program sent several robotic missions to the Moon around the same time that conducted sample-return missions. The examination of these rocks revealed a great deal about the composition of the Moon and led to new theories about the formation and evolution of the Earth-Moon system.

For example, analysis of the rocks revealed that the Earth and the Moon are similarly composed of silicate minerals and metals. This led to theories that the Moon’s interior is similarly divided into a silicate mantle and crust and a metallic core. However, many aspects of this theory, like the structure of the core (solid or molten?), have been debated for decades. According to new findings by a team of French scientists, it is now a scientific certainty that the Moon’s innermost region consists of a solid inner core surrounded by a molten outer core (just like Earth’s).

May 16, 2023May 16, 2023 by Andy Tomaswick

NASA Shuts Down the Lunar Flashlight Mission After it Fails to Go into Orbit

NASA missions can be categorized into two types. One type includes headline-grabbing missions, such as the JWST or New Horizons, that take decades to design and plan. Typically those larger missions include many flight-tested components that had already been used on other missions in the past. They are intended to conduct science experiments. But those components get tested beforehand on what the agency calls “technology demonstration” flights. These are intended to work through the kinks in technology development that might hinder the use of a system in space. Lunar Flashlight was one of those technology demonstrator missions, but unfortunately, one of the critical novel components did run into one of those kinks, and now NASA has decided to shut down the mission.

May 12, 2023May 12, 2023 by Matt Williams

Glass Fibers in Lunar Regolith Could Help Build Structures on the Moon

Electron microscope images of various glass particles identified from China's Chang'e-5 lunar samples. Credit: Laiquan Shen, R.Z. et al. (2023)

Through the Artemis Program, NASA plans to send the first astronauts to the Moon in over fifty years. Before the decade is over, this program aims to establish the infrastructure that will allow for a “sustained program of lunar exploration and development.” The European Space Agency (ESA) also has big plans, which include the creation of a Moon Village that will serve as a spiritual successor to the International Space Station (ISS). China and Roscosmos also came together in June 2021 to announce that they would build the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) around the lunar south pole.

In all cases, space agencies plan to harvest local resources to meet their construction and long-term needs – a process known as In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU). Based on samples returned by the fifth mission of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program (Chang’e-5), a team of researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) identified indigenous glass fibers for the first time. According to a paper they authored, these fibers were formed by past impacts in the region and could be an ideal building material for future lunar bases.

May 3, 2023May 3, 2023 by Evan Gough

Is This Nearby Asteroid a Chunk of the Moon?

Illustration of Asteroid (Artist’s Impression). Credit: N. Bartmann (ESA/Webb), ESO/M. Kornmesser and S. Brunier, N. Risinger

The Moon dominates our view of the night sky. But it’s not the only thing orbiting Earth. A small number of what scientists call quasi-satellites also orbit Earth.

One of them is called Kamo’oalewa, and it’s a near-Earth asteroid. It’s similar to the Moon in some respects. Could it be a chunk of the Moon?

May 1, 2023May 2, 2023 by Carolyn Collins Petersen

We Can Now See Into the Permanently Shadowed Craters on the Moon

A ShadowCam view of the rim of Shackleton Crater on the Moon, pockmarked with smaller craters. ShadowCam gives a high-resolution view. Courtesy: NASA/KARI/ASU — A ShadowCam view of part of permanently shadowed Shackleton Crater on the Moon, pockmarked with smaller craters. ShadowCam gives a high-resolution view. Courtesy: NASA/KARI/ASU

An instrument called ShadowCam is giving NASA’s planned Artemis missions to the Moon some advanced views of a landing site. It’s mounted to the Danuri Korea Pathfinder Lunar orbiter sent to the Moon last year. Lately, this amazing camera has been sending back some highly detailed images of the lunar north and south pole regions.

April 27, 2023April 27, 2023 by Nancy Atkinson

One Day Astronauts Will Be Breathing Oxygen Made From Rocks

A high-powered laser and carbothermal reactor located inside the testing chamber of NASA’s Carbothermal Reduction Demonstration (CaRD) at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. Credits: NASA/Brian Sacco

When there’s a permanent base on the Moon, astronauts will need a way to replenish their oxygen supply. Fortunately, there’s an almost infinite amount of oxygen in the surrounding regolith, locked up the rocks and soil. The key would be to figure out a cost-effective way to extract it.

Now, NASA has demonstrated that they can harvest oxygen from the lunar regolith, even in the vacuum conditions of space. They used a device called a carbothermal reactor to successfully extract oxygen from a simulated lunar regolith, while also simulating the heat that would be produced by a solar energy concentrator.