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Website & Blog of Jatan Mehta, a globally published & cited space writer. Read deep dives on global lunar and space exploration.

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When ISRO loses a PSLV rocket, India loses a launchpad in the present and the future

 When ISRO loses a PSLV rocket, India loses a launchpad in the present and the future

To understand the pride and perils of the PSLV is to understand India’s launch infrastructure and its risky commonalities | Indian Space Progress #35-36

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Moon Monday #261: A shortfall in Artemis II testing and NASA’s communications

 Moon Monday #261: A shortfall in Artemis II testing and NASA’s communications

Dear NASA, China’s space missions exist too. So do your own planetary science missions.

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How NASA has planned to keep Artemis II astronauts safe throughout their Moon mission

 How NASA has planned to keep Artemis II astronauts safe throughout their Moon mission

Moon Monday #260: Safety planning spans all phases and aspects of the crewed lunar mission, weaved into hardware, operations, and astronaut training. 🦺

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Moon Monday #259: Lunarbound astronauts enter quarantine as Artemis II launch approaches

 Moon Monday #259: Lunarbound astronauts enter quarantine as Artemis II launch approaches

Plus mission updates.

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Publicly sharing my poetry booklet’s downloads & sales stats

 Publicly sharing my poetry booklet’s downloads & sales stats

Does a no-nonsense approach to being an indie author work?

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The next 10 years in space

 The next 10 years in space

And sunset on a valuable resource.

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Moon Monday #258: Tests China will conduct this year in prep towards landing humans on Luna

 Moon Monday #258: Tests China will conduct this year in prep towards landing humans on Luna

Plus: Artemis and other updates, and articles on Japan’s lunar endeavors.

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Moon Monday #257: NASA preps to send astronauts to Luna

 Moon Monday #257: NASA preps to send astronauts to Luna

Plus mission updates.

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Coverage of India’s exploration of Mars

 Coverage of India’s exploration of Mars

* Reviewing Mangalyaan, India’s first Mars mission * India’s Mars orbiter completes six years at the red planet, but where is the science? * Debate: Mangalyaan’s low science output still reflects on ISRO * Mangalyaan spacecraft terminated—it was never a science mission * My article on Mangalyaan was rejected 8 times

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All the rovers heading to the Moon over the next 10 years | Moon Monday #256

 All the rovers heading to the Moon over the next 10 years | Moon Monday #256

As lunar exploration ramps up worldwide, our celestial companion is slated to be explored by increasingly advanced rovers of all sorts over the next 10 years. Not all of them will be successful, and so the reason for this post is not just to garner excitement about the possibilities of

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Articles on Japan’s Moon missions

 Articles on Japan’s Moon missions

* The joint Indo-Japanese Chandrayaan 5 LUPEX mission will drill for water on the Moon * JAXA welcomed us into the era of precision Moon landings * How ISRO aided this feat * Japan’s road to landing astronauts on the Moon * The need for resilience in private Moon landing missions through expansive and

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Poem: The dawn of your light

 Poem: The dawn of your light

Like the dawn of the blaze of a lander over the grays touches your light and spans the open lunar sky A descent energetic yet graceful methodical and careful Spawned from the blue marble verse you bring the best in us. Poem notes: I’ve had the privilege and pleasure

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Achievements and shortfalls in global lunar exploration in 2025

Moon Monday #255: Capturing the state of the world’s lunar exploration efforts this year.

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ISRO and India had a mixed year in space in 2025

Indian Space Progress #34: An honest review of the country’s space activities this year

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Moon Monday #254: The one following last week’s embarrassing typo

What could’ve been the real headline instead: Lunar mission updates and India’s ultimate Moonshot.

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A space program can only move as swiftly as its rockets. It’s India’s time to act on that.

Indian Space Progress #33: A review of the state of ISRO’s orbital launch vehicles reveals a bleak picture of ambitious goals sliding to the right—in stark contrast to the incessant chest thumping about efficiency.

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Moon Monday #253: A peek at new lunar samples and mission updates

Here is a peek at some lunar samples from China’s Chang’e 5 nearside landing mission as well as the Chang’e 6 farside one! Holding them is an incredible feeling that vividly reminds you of the immense and irreplaceable value of exploring our Moon. 🌙

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Lunar sample science updates straight from Hong Kong | Moon Monday #252

A volcano of new results which have improved our understanding of our cosmic companion.

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Moon Monday #251: Prepping to live on Luna via analogs on Earth

Plus mission updates and more memes.

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Celebrating 5 years and 10,000 subscribers of Moon Monday with globally published poetry on space

It also lays the foundation for the next phase in my space writing: Merge the worlds of blogs and books.

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Moon Monday #250: One small step, mission updates, and a much needed giant leap

Welcome to the 250th edition of my Moon Monday blog+newsletter! 🚀🌕

One small step: About two months ago, Moon Monday crossed 10,000 subscribers. I did not announce it until now because I wanted to celebrate it in some way. Having readers and supporters be truly

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A giant leap in orbital imagery is what we need to realize advanced Moon missions

Illustration of the LRO spacecraft orbiting our Moon. Image: NASA / GSFC / Chris Meaney

At over 1.6 petabytes, NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) mission hosts by far the largest dataset from any planetary science spacecraft ever launched. LRO’s high-resolution lunar imagery and topographic data has been

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Moon Monday #249: The one published on Sunday

Mission updates from China and the US.

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Moon Monday #248: The one that starts with a meme

China preps complex Chang’e 7 mission to study lunar water while US Artemis III rejigs.

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Shedding light on solar activity and the Moon’s exosphere—a Diwali gift from Chandrayaan 2

Moon Monday #247 and Indian Space Progress #32

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An assortment of lunar papers from around the world | Moon Monday #246

Like Moon-made M&Ms. 🍬😋

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Moon Monday #245: Blue origin to hunt for a lunar oasis

Plus mission updates.

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Moon Monday #244: Towards lunar construction

Before we begin, a clarifying note about the title of the previous Moon Monday: An Amazon delivery for NASA’s VIPER rover? Well, I’ve received many emails saying how Amazon has a distinct space entity from Blue Origin. It’s fair to point that out but

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Moon Monday #243: An Amazon delivery for NASA’s VIPER rover?

Plus Chandrayaan 3 research updates and more.

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Verses: Hope in desolation

Space just desolate…and yet humans launch hopeto explore some more Image: Xinhua | See the first note at the end On our Moonfrom where the Sun never shines,a new era will dawn. The rim of the 10-kilometer-wide Erlanger crater on the Moon’s north pole.