SCI Another attempted Moon landing (this time by Japan) (Friday, about 15:20:00 UTC)

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tanstaafl

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Japan's lunar probe SLIM (Smart Lander for Investigating Moon) is apparently still scheduled to land today in about three hours, which I assume means the lander is pretty much committed at this point. This one is interesting because it's an autonomous effort. That is, the lander itself will decide exactly where to land, with no human involvement. Other than that, as far as I can tell it's not all that an exciting a mission since the lander is very small and the "rover" is more like a hopping toy. If the mission is successful, however, Japan will become the 5th country to soft land on the surface of the Moon.

en.wikipedia.org

Smart Lander for Investigating Moon - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
 
AlaskaSue

AlaskaSue

North to the Future
Wow, it really is small. Approx 5’ x 5’ x 6.5’ ~ Looking forward to seeing if it goes well….but why such a long time from launch (Sept 6 2023) to landing?

56136E74-BB0F-43C6-825F-EA2534922F90.jpeg
 
T

tanstaafl

Has No Life - Lives on TB
AlaskaSue said:
… but why such a long time from launch (Sept 6 2023) to landing?
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I don't know exactly why, but lately it seems most of the stuff going to the Moon (even the recent failed Peregrine spacecraft, if it hadn't suicided) are using very complex and convoluted orbits that can take months to get there. You should check out the multi-angle course of the recent unmanned U.S. mission that went around the Moon ... it looks like somebody shot a can of Silly String while waving their arm in every direction (if I can find it again I'll post the link or a screenshot). My assumption is those orbits take less overall energy, which means less fuel use, which means smaller fuel tanks, which means a smaller spacecraft, which ultimately means a cheaper mission. But there are still lunar missions taking the direct approximately one week route. The Russians tried that with the lander they crashed recently, I assume mostly to beat a Chinese mission scheduled to land within days of the Russian attempt, and the upcoming Nova-C (aka, IM-1) mission I think also will take the direct shorter route.
 
T

tanstaafl

Has No Life - Lives on TB
It was the Artemis-1 mission. It launched on November 16, 2022 and splashed down on December 11, 2022 (call it roughly a month). Mind you, that was just for a fly-by mission, not a landing, and they apparently plan to use a similar course (and mission length) when they put humans in the spacecraft (imagine a month jammed into what amounts to a large closet with four people ...). There will be one manned fly-by mission, now scheduled (with fingers firmly crossed, considering how many, many program delays there have been) for September 2025, with the manned landing attempt (with DEI astronauts) in September 2026.

Here's a screen snapshot from the link below:

Aretmis 1 mission orbit.jpg

Here's the animation link:

en.wikipedia.org

Artemis 1 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
 
T

tanstaafl

Has No Life - Lives on TB
I don't think it's anything special. Every country with any tech base at all lately seems to be wanting to show they're "doing something in space" (presumably for the international prestige and the domestic propaganda) and the Moon is the most obvious target. After all, everyone on the planet can just go outside, look up, and see the Moon whenever the clouds allow it. There are lots of international probes going beyond the Moon as well. For example this year alone:

Sept. 2024 - MMX (Martian Moons eXploration) (Japan) interplanetary probe planned launch to Mars to return a sample from Phobos, planned Phobos landing date in Aug. 2025 and return to Earth in July 2029

Dec. 2024 - Shukrayaan-1 (India) Venus orbiter mission planned launch

sometime in 2024 - Mangalyaan-2 (aka, Mars Orbiter Mission 2 or MOM 2) (India) spacecraft planned launch to Mars, will consist only of an orbiter, will be India's second mission to Mars

sometime in 2024 - Phootprint (Europe) may launch to Mars to return a sample from Phobos (only proposed at this point, although Wikipedia still showing 2024 as a possible launch)

By the way, no one (including me) caught the fact that yesterday there was a manned launch to ISS. The Axiom-3 (aka, Ax-3) (U.S./Axiom Space) manned mission launched aboard a Crew Dragon spacecraft with four crew (Michael López-Alegría/U.S. & Spain, Walter Villadei/Italy, Alper Gezeravci/Turkey, and Marcus Wandt/Sweden). It will dock with ISS on Jan. 20th and the mission is expected to last about 14 days.
 
Masterphreak

Masterphreak

Senior Member
packyderms_wife said:
what's with the sudden rush to the moon? what element/mineral did they find there that's causing this race to the moon?
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Water ice has been detected in craters at the poles. This makes building a lunar base less reliant on resupply from Earth. Using electrolysis to make oxygen and hydrogen or just used as a water source for the astronauts. The Moon will become a manufacturing and launch site for further explorations beyond Earth's orbit.
 
T

tanstaafl

Has No Life - Lives on TB
tanstaafl said:
Sept. 2024 - MMX (Martian Moons eXploration) (Japan) interplanetary probe planned launch to Mars to return a sample from Phobos, planned Phobos landing date in Aug. 2025 and return to Earth in July 2029

Dec. 2024 - Shukrayaan-1 (India) Venus orbiter mission planned launch
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Correction to these launch dates. MMX has slipped to 2026 and Shukrayaan-1 has slipped to 2028.
 
BornFree

BornFree

Came This Far
Last I heard this thing was supposed to be dead by now because the solar panels did not deploy. That news was from two days ago. And strangely I can't find any updates on that situation.
 
T

tanstaafl

Has No Life - Lives on TB
john70 said:
I WONDER
HOW WE FORGOT
HOW TO GET TO THE MOON
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We didn't forget. We just lost the national will to do it for a few heartbreaking decades. Americans tend to forget that technology and science work even when others don't speak English, but we're learning that other countries will go with or without us. According to my notes, very soon (2024-2025, but that seems highly unlikely to me) the Chinese hope to land taikonauts on the Moon and maybe 2025-2035 land taikonauts on Mars. India is also hoping to land their spacefolk (no name that I know of yet for their version of an astronaut) on the Moon, but they've been very long on talk and short on action (although they're currently trying hard to get their man-rated rocket and capsule into orbit). And I can't imagine the Russians aren't at least seriously considering joining the new space race.
 
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T

tanstaafl

Has No Life - Lives on TB
BornFree said:
Last I heard this thing was supposed to be dead by now because the solar panels did not deploy. That news was from two days ago. And strangely I can't find any updates on that situation.
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Opps, never mind my earlier post. Looking at the SLIM Wikipedia page it does say this:

"Although it landed successfully, its operational state is unclear because the solar panels are not oriented toward the Sun, thereby failing to generate enough power. The lander operated on internal battery power, which was fully drained that day. The mission's operators hope that the lander will wake up after a few days when sunlight should hit the solar panels. The two LEV 1 and 2 rovers, deployed while the lander was hovering just before it touched down, are working as planned, with LEV-1 communicating independently to ground stations."
 
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Old Greek

Old Greek

Veteran Member
tanstaafl said:
We didn't forget. We just lost the national will to do it for a few heartbreaking decades. Americans tend to forget that technology and science work even when others don't speak English, but we're learning that other countries will go with or without us. According to my notes, very soon (2024-2025, but that seems highly unlikely to me) the Chinese hope to land taikonauts on the Moon and maybe 2025-2035 land taikonauts on Mars. India is also hoping to land their spacefolk (no name that I know of yet for their version of an astronaut) on the Moon, but they've been very long on talk and short on action (although they're currently traying hard to get their man-rated rocket and capsule into orbit). And I can't imagine the Russians aren't at least seriously considering joining the new space race.
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Not sure India will ever have enough funds to do it. Another Indian will keep stealing the funds! Unless a third country holds the money. :D
 
T

tanstaafl

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Old Greek said:
Not sure India will ever have enough funds to do it. Another Indian will keep stealing the funds! Unless a third country holds the money. :D
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As far as I know they're still saying in 2024 they plan two orbital test flights of an unmanned Gaganyaan capsule launched by their GSLV Mark III ELV, and then the manned mission will take place before the end of 2024. But as I suggested, their schedules don't often work out as they tell the rest of the world.
 
Old Greek

Old Greek

Veteran Member
tanstaafl said:
As far as I know they're still saying in 2024 they plan two orbital test flights of an unmanned Gaganyaan capsule launched by their GSLV Mark III ELV, and then the manned mission will take place before the end of 2024. But as I suggested, their schedules don't often work out as they tell the rest of the world.
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I hope they can pull it off. Nice to others doing what we used to do.
 
T

tanstaafl

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Old Greek said:
I hope they can pull it off. Nice to others doing what we used to do.
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I swear, sometimes the U.S. acts like a five year old. We don't want to play with the toys until somebody else wants to play with them, then it's on! But the U.S. did, in fact, not so long ago send their man-rated capsule around the Moon, with plans for manned missions in 2025 (flyby) and 2026 (landing). Although both missions just slipped by a year to those new dates, presumably as NASA tries to get their chosen DEI astronauts up to speed so they don't open the hatch in a huff halfway to the Moon because someone in the crew or in ground control said something they don't like.
 
Old Greek

Old Greek

Veteran Member
DEI is going to destroy this country. I refuse to fly anymore. DEI pilots and mechanics. The new Somali pilots will be taking selfies of themselves instead of flying ( if they know how to use the camera in the phone ) :D
 
Roger Thornhill

Roger Thornhill

Some irascible old curmudgeon
Remember, when Obama took office, the NUMBER ONE PRIORITY of NASA was changed to [not making this up] 'establish better relations with Muslim cultures'.

In that spirit, I suggest we send Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar on a mission to explore the surface of the sun.
 
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