Moon Archives

January 11, 2025January 11, 2025 by Matt Williams

NASA is Sending a Vacuum Cleaner to the Moon

The Lunar Planet Vac, or LPV, is one of 10 payloads set to be carried to the Moon by the Blue Ghost 1 lunar lander in 2025. Credit: Firefly Aerospace

By the end of this decade, NASA, the Chinese National Space Agency (CNSA), Roscosmos, and other space agencies plan to establish a sustained human presence on the Moon. A crucial aspect of these plans is using local resources (particularly water) to lessen dependence on Earth, a process known as in-situ resource utilization (ISRU). Hence why NASA plans to establish a base of operations around the lunar south pole, a heavily cratered region where water ice exists in abundance in permanently shadowed regions (PSRs).

To harvest water ice and other resources successfully, NASA is investing in technologies that will enable cost-effective sample collection, in-situ testing (with or without astronaut oversight), and real-time data transmission to Earth. One such technology is the Lunar PlanetVac (LPV), a sample acquisition and delivery system designed to collect and transfer lunar regolith to sample containers without reliance on gravity. The LPV is one of 10 payloads that will be flown to the lunar surface as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program.

January 5, 2025January 5, 2025 by Matt Williams

If We Want to Live on Other Worlds, We're Going to Need New Clocks

Artist's impression of astronauts on the lunar surface, as part of the Artemis Program. How will they store power on the Moon? 3D printed batteries could help. Credit: NASA

Between NASA, other space agencies, and the commercial space sector, there are some truly ambitious plans for humanity’s future in space. These plans envision the creation of permanent infrastructure on and around the Moon that will enable a permanent human presence there, complete with research, science, and commercial operations. They also call for the first crewed missions to Mars, followed by the creation of surface habitats that will allow for return visits. These plans present many challenges, ranging from logistical and technical issues to health and human safety.

Another challenge is coordinating operations across the lunar surface with those in orbit and back at Earth, which requires a system of standardized time. In a recent study, a team of NASA researchers developed a new system of lunar time for all lunar assets and those in cis-lunar space. They recommend that this system’s foundation be relativistic time transformations, known more generally as “time dilation.” Such a system will allow for coordination and effective timekeeping on the Moon by addressing discrepancies caused by gravitational potential differences and relative motion.

December 30, 2024December 30, 2024 by Mark Thompson

NASA to Probe the Secrets of the Lunar Regolith

Regolith Adherence Characterization, or RAC, is one of 10 science and technology instruments flying on NASA’s next Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) flight as part of the Blue Ghost Misison-1. Developed by Aegis Aerospace of Webster, Texas, RAC is designed to study how lunar dust reacts to more than a dozen different types of material samples, located on the payload’s wheels. Photo courtesy Firefly Aerospace

Gaze up at the Moon on any night and you will see a barren world displaying all manner of shades of grey. Aside from the obvious craters and lunar maria, the surface of the Moon is covered in the fine, dusty lunar regolith. The Apollo astronauts in the 60’s and 70’s learned that it was electromagnetically charged and was very abrasive posing a problem for mechanical equipment. Now a new payload on the Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative will explore the regolith even further.

December 27, 2024December 27, 2024 by Matt Williams

NASA is Considering Designs and Simulations to Prepare Astronauts for Lighting Conditions Around the Lunar South Pole

Artist's impression of astronauts on the lunar surface, as part of the Artemis Program. Credit: NASA

In the coming years, NASA and other space agencies will send humans back to the Moon for the first time since the Apollo Era—this time to stay! To maximize line-of-sight communication with Earth, solar visibility, and access to water ice, NASA, the ESA, and China have selected the Lunar South Pole (LSP) as the location for their future lunar bases. This will necessitate the creation of permanent infrastructure on the Moon and require that astronauts have the right equipment and training to deal with conditions around the lunar south pole.

This includes lighting conditions, which present a major challenge for science operations and extravehicular activity (EVA). Around the LSP, day and night last for two weeks at a time, and the Sun never rises more than a few degrees above the horizon. This creates harsh lighting conditions very different from what the Apollo astronauts or any previous mission have experienced. To address this, the NASA Engineering and Safety Council (NESC) has recommended developing a wide variety of physical and virtual techniques that can simulate the visual experiences of Artemis astronauts.

December 21, 2024December 21, 2024 by Matt Williams

NASA is Developing Solutions for Lunar Housekeeping’s Biggest Problem: Dust!

Habitats grouped together on the rim of a lunar crater, known as the Moon Village. Credit: ESA

Through the Artemis Program, NASA will send the first astronauts to the Moon since the Apollo Era before 2030. They will be joined by multiple space agencies, like the ESA and China, who plan to send astronauts (and “taikonauts”) there for the first time. Beyond this, all plan to build permanent habitats in the South Pole-Aitken Basin and the necessary infrastructure that will lead to a permanent human presence. This presents many challenges, the most notable being those arising from the nature of the lunar environment.

Aside from the extremes in temperature, a 14-day diurnal cycle, and the airless environment, there’s the issue of lunar regolith (aka moondust). In addition to being coarse and jagged, lunar regolith sticks to everything because it is electrostatically charged. Because of how this dust plays havoc with astronaut health, equipment, and machinery, NASA is developing technologies to mitigate dust buildup. Seven of these experiments will be tested during a flight test using a Blue Origin New Shepard rocket to evaluate their ability to mitigate lunar dust.

December 7, 2024December 7, 2024 by Matt Williams

NASA has Plans for More Cargo Deliveries to the Moon

Early conceptual renderings of cargo variants of human lunar landing systems from NASA’s providers SpaceX, left, and Blue Origin, right. Credit: SpaceX/Blue Origin

Through the Artemis Program, NASA hopes to lay the foundations for a program of “sustained lunar exploration and development.” This will include regular missions to the surface, the creation of infrastructure and habitats, and a long-term human presence. To facilitate this, NASA is teaming up with industry and international partners to develop Human Landing Systems (HLS) that can transport crews to and from the lunar surface and landers that can deliver payloads of equipment, vehicles, and supplies to the lunar surface.

In a recent statement, NASA indicated that it intends to award Blue Origin and SpaceX additional work under their existing contracts to develop landers that will deliver equipment and infrastructure to the lunar surface. NASA also plans to assign demonstration missions to these companies, in addition to design certification reviews, which will validate their concepts. This decision builds on NASA’s earlier request, made in 2023, that the two companies develop cargo versions of their HLS concepts, which are currently in development for the Artemis III, Artemis IV, and Artemis V missions.

December 6, 2024December 6, 2024 by Carolyn Collins Petersen

NASA Pushes Human Moon Landing Back to 2027

Artist's rendering of the Starship HLS on the lunar surface. NASA has contracted with SpaceX to provide the lunar landing system. Credit: SpaceX — Artist's rendering of the Starship HLS on the Moon's surface. NASA has contracted with SpaceX to provide the lunar landing system. Credit: SpaceX

The Artemis moon landings are delayed again due to technical difficulties. This time, the problem is with the Orion spacecraft heat shield. NASA administrator Bill Nelson announced that the new landing dates are in April of 2026 for Artemis II and sometime in 2027 for the first human landing during the Artemis III mission.

November 25, 2024November 25, 2024 by Mark Thompson

NASA Releases its Moon Phases Animation for 2025

Every year, NASA releases a detailed simulation of the Moon that shows how it will change through the year. They produce a couple of versions that show how it appears from the northern and southern hemisphere and others that highlight different features. Not only does it show the phases through the year but it also shows the change in size as its completes its orbit. The change in apparent size of the Moon is a result of its elliptical orbit so that it can appear up to 30% brighter.

November 20, 2024November 20, 2024 by Mark Thompson

How Could Astronauts Call for Help from the Moon?

Exploring the Moon poses significant risks, with its extreme environment and hazardous terrain presenting numerous challenges. In the event of a major accident, assistance might take days or even weeks to arrive. To address this, Australian researchers have created a distress alert system based upon the COSPAS-SARSAT technology used for Earth-based search and rescue operations. It relies on low-power emergency beacons that astronauts could activate with minimal setup and use a planned lunar satellite network for communication and rescue coordination.

November 9, 2024November 9, 2024 by Andy Tomaswick

Launching Mass From the Moon Helped by Lunar Gravity Anomalies

Placing a mass driver on the Moon has long been a dream of space exploration enthusiasts. It would open up so many possibilities for the exploration of our solar system and the possibility of actually living in space. Gerard O’Neill, in his work on the gigantic cylinders that now bear his name, mentioned using a lunar mass driver as the source of the material to build them. So far, we have yet to see such an engineering wonder in the real world, but as more research is done on the topic, more and more feasible paths seem to be opening up to its potential implementation.