Moon Monday #112: Planning Artemis science, exciting mission updates, and more

Planning the science on NASA’s first Artemis crewed Moon landing missionNASA aims to land astronauts on the Moon mid-decade with Artemis III. While the agency’s selection of SpaceX’s Starship lunar lander and commercial spacesuits—along with the standard Artemis mission inclusions of the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft—largely culminate the technology...

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Space poems I’ve written

The Mutara Nebula and the Starship Enterprise from Star Trek. Credit: 1darthvaderI occasionally write verses on space to attempt to capture the sheer intensity of emotions the wonders of our Universe evoke, as does our commitment to exploring it all. Here are some of my notable poems:An ode to Artemis ITriple sunsetSpace dreamsDoes life really have...

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Moon Monday #111: An Indo-Japanese rover, China’s 4th lunar leap, Artemis collaborations, and more

Dear readers, I have 3 exciting things to share with you today:Moon Monday crossed 4,000 subscribers last week, with the majority gratifyingly continuing to be planetary scientists and engineers, personnel at national space agencies, executives at space companies, and fellow writers & journalists from around the world! If your company or organization...

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Moon Monday #110: A spacecraft that sees lunar shadows, Saudi Arabia’s withdrawal from The Moon Treaty, mission updates, and more

I’m excited to launch a new writing product next month! Any guesses on what it might be? Hint: Like Moon Monday, it will be the only one of its kind in the world. 🚀A glimpse of the Moon’s actual dark sideWhile South Korea’s first lunar orbiter KPLO prepares to formally begin its one-year primary mission of studying the Moon’s surface from February,...

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Moon Monday #109: Seven lunar landing attempts this year, and NASA’s budget for Luna

Welcome back to Moon Monday! :D2023 promises to treat us lunatics with seven robotic Moon landing attempts, with possibly three of them from the U.S., two from Japan, and one each from India and Russia. Below are the latest available updates on them all.Astrobotic’s first Moon lander, Peregrine. Credit: John ThorntonMoon landing mission updatesJapanispace...

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My best space writings from 2022

Dear readers,In my lifelong mission to write about the exploration of space and our Moon, 2022 turned out to be very productive and satiating. I published 51 editions of my one-of-a-kind Moon Monday newsletter, and wrote 25+ articles on space exploration at large. I also took a major step forward in sustaining Moon Monday, thanks to the generous, no-strings-attached...

Jan 2023

Moon Monday #108: A lunarbound KPLO, many mission updates, future foundations, and more

I’ll be taking my year end break from publishing Moon Monday for two weeks, and get the much needed free time to rest, refresh, and reflect. The next edition will be out on January 9, 2023 and cover all updates between now and then. I hope you enjoy the end of the year doing whatever you love.Relatedly, a major reason my space blog is called “Jatan’s...

Dec 2022

An ode to Artemis I

The Orion spacecraft, part of NASA’s Artemis I mission, captured this view of our Moon and Earth in November 2022. This vantage point in its lunar orbit lies roughly 70,000 and 430,000 kilometers away from the Moon and Earth respectively. Credit: NASAThe success of NASA’s Artemis I Moon mission, and the amazing views of our Moon from its Orion spacecraft,...

Dec 2022

Moon Monday #107: NASA’s Orion spacecraft splashes on Earth while ispace Japan launches for the Moon

Orion comes back home with dreams of a crewed Moon landingLike the skip of a stone on water, NASA’s crew-capable Artemis I Orion capsule incoming from the Moon performed an autonomously guided bounced reentry into Earth’s atmosphere on December 11, subsequently descending with aid from its mighty parachutes and splashing down at the intended fairly...

Dec 2022

ispace Japan’s lander launches for the Moon, carrying UAE’s rover and hopes for its future lunar ambitions

Today, December 11, private Japanese company ispace inc. launched its first ever Moon mission M1 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. ispace’s robotic “Hakuto-R” spacecraft is now on a low-energy, fuel-efficient trajectory to the Moon, after four months of which it will propel itself into lunar orbit. Subsequently, after system checkouts, the mission team will...

Dec 2022