April 28th, 2024
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Launch preparations are quickening for China’s next spacecraft sendoff to the Moon – the Chang’e-6 mission. The spacecraft now sits atop a Long March 5 carrier rocket at its departure site in Wenchang, Hainan province. Chang’e-6 is reportedly to launch at 3:50 PM, May 3rd Beijing Time (3:50 AM, May 3rd, Eastern Time). The […]
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Trying to shape an ambitious and steady agenda for space in Europe requires not only diplomatic aplomb but also the need for firm engineering and scientific footing. Indeed, those attributes are must haves in working with the 22 member states of the European Space Agency (ESA). Josef Aschbacher is ESA’s Director General, […]
China’s ramping up of Moon exploration involves a space-based lunar infrastructure. The Dongfang Hour presents an excellent review of spacecraft and ground-based vehicles that will increasingly need positioning and communication services at the Moon. Enter China’s plan to establish a lunar satellite constellation called the “Queqiao constellation.” The focus of that country’s far side and […]
The China National Space Administration (CNSA) is considering applications from NASA-funded researchers to study lunar samples brought back to Earth by China’s Chang’e-5 moon mission. According to the South China Morning Post these applications are to be considered April 26 in a review meeting being held at the China University of Geosciences’ Nanwangshan campus in […]
China is providing new details regarding the country’s plan to establish an International Lunar Research Station. The International Lunar Research Station (ILRS), according to state-run outlets, will consist of sections on the lunar surface, sections in lunar orbit and sections on Earth, and it will be built in two phases. Wu Weiren, chief designer of […]
China’s next human spaceflight is targeting an April 25 liftoff of the three-person Shenzhou-18 crew to the country’s space station They will be launched at 8:59 p.m. Beijing Time on Thursday from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China. Chinese astronauts Ye Guangfu, Li Cong and Li Guangsu will carry out the Shenzhou-18 mission […]
It’s Alive (again!). Last night (the night of April 23rd), control teams for Japan’s Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) reported they were able to successfully communicate with SLIM. They confirmed that SLIM had survived the lunar night cycle for the third time. “SLIM has maintained its primary functions even after three overnight stays, […]
Extremely busy with an eye on the future. That’s a short and sweet assessment of Peter Beck, Rocket Lab’s founder and CEO. In the pantheon of private space groups, Rocket Lab is a roaring success and Beck wants to keep it that way. Ask Peter Beck to weigh the firm’s past and where it’s […]
Book Review: Space and the Warfighter – How Space Technologies Transformed U.S. Military Actions; Spacehistory101.com Press (2023); 232 pages; softcover; $28.97. I recently returned from the Space Foundation’s mega-symposium in Colorado Springs, a meeting that highlighted U.S. military space prowess and issues of warfighting. The reader will greatly benefit by taking a read of this […]
China has released a set of geologic atlases of the Moon, providing high-definition map data for future lunar exploration – an aide in selecting the location for the country’s lunar research station and utilizing lunar resources. This set of geologic atlas, available in Chinese and English, includes the Geologic Atlas of the Lunar Globe […]
