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California-based Venturi Astrolab Inc. (Astrolab) is developing the large multi-purpose rovers of FLEX and FLIP for advanced exploration of our Moon this decade and next. Through FLEX, Astrolab leads one

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01 Aug 14:21 • Jatan Mehta

A story about open knowledge sharing in space

It was eight years ago that I wrote a guide on how to correctly and reliably install NASA’s popular HEASoft software on Linux, a software which is extensively used in high energy Astrophysics research.

I wrote it because the official guides on NASA HEASoft’s website

jatan.space 🌙
28 Jul 12:42 • Jatan Mehta

Moon Monday #235: Artemis and other mission updates

Read to the end for a jolly Jovian update!

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20 Jul 09:57 • Jatan Mehta

Explore our Moon’s wild places and wonderful samples | Moon Monday #234

A special early edition of Moon Monday for International Moon Day, July 20.

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15 Jul 16:37 • Jatan Mehta

Was Shukla’s Axiom-4 flight to the International Space Station worth it for ISRO? | Indian Space Progress #29

A complicated question to answer for a controversial flight intended to advance India’s grand ambition of indigenously sending humans to space.

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14 Jul 16:12 • Jatan Mehta

Moon Monday #233: Visualizing a new Moon based on scientific discoveries by China’s Chang’e 6 mission

I’m over the Moon to share that Open Lunar Foundation is continuing to be a sponsor of my Moon Monday blog+newsletter for the fifth year in a row! 🌕

Open Lunar is a non-profit organization that actively promotes cooperative, peaceful, and sustainable

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07 Jul 10:27 • Jatan Mehta

Moon Monday #232: Still free mission updates

And encouraging information sharing.

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04 Jul 18:27 • Jatan Mehta

On SpaceNews going paywalled, and the broader disregard for archiving in journalism

This article is a break from my usual flair because space communities worldwide are affected by this important topic, and I have some thoughts to offer to add to the discussions.

SpaceNews, a well known media publication in the global space industry, went paywalled for its website on July 1

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30 Jun 14:51 • Jatan Mehta

Moon Monday #231: Achievements and shortfalls in Moon exploration this half year

A review of notable developments by country or region.

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23 Jun 14:51 • Jatan Mehta

Moon Monday #230: China leaps again in its steady march to Luna while NASA’s progress on Artemis remains a mixed bag

A look at recent Chinese milestones in the build up to crewed lunar missions, another blow(up) for Artemis, how Firefly’s Ocula can fill critical gaps for NASA, and more.

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16 Jun 15:15 • Jatan Mehta

Moon Monday #229: China extends lead in lunar orbital infrastructure, gets an edge in future crewed missions over the US

Plus: Examples of how Western media narratives of Chinese lunar activities misjudge capabilities and intent

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09 Jun 16:24 • Jatan Mehta

Moon Monday #228: The need for resilience in private lunar landing missions through expansive and collaborative testing

ispace Japan’s second Moon lander

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04 Jun 16:06 • Jatan Mehta

A pressing PSLV rocket failure and orbital congestion to brood over | Indian Space Progress #28

Plus more mission updates.

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02 Jun 15:42 • Jatan Mehta

Moon Monday #227: Proposed cuts, cancellations, continuations, and changes to NASA’s lunar missions

And other mission updates.

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26 May 11:59 • Jatan Mehta

Moon Monday #226: Blue Origin aims to launch its first two Moon missions by next year—with nearly no NASA payloads

Plus: Firefly to carry UAE’s second lunar rover and more.

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23 May 11:49 • Jatan Mehta

Why Moon missions need their own Wikipedia and beyond

Our Moon may be one of the largest satellites in the Solar System but its exploration has been concentrated on select areas. One of these is low lunar orbit, where mapping spacecraft from three countries have been concurrently flying from pole to pole between 50 to 150 kilometers above the

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19 May 15:07 • Jatan Mehta

Moon Monday #225: Lots of global lunar mission updates 🌙

Illustration showing satellite elements of China’s Queqiao lunar navigation and communications constellation. Image: CNSA / CASC

Key news of the month: China has achieved the first ever daytime Earth-Moon distance measurement wherein a 1.2-meter telescope reflected an infrared laser off of a small retroreflector on the 61-kilogram Tiandu

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05 May 2025 • Jatan Mehta

Moon Monday #224: A curious find from Chandrayaan 3, Artemis updates, and more

Two announcements before we begin:

I’m honored to be moderating a fantastic panel on modern themes in global lunar exploration at the international Global Space Exploration Conference (GLEX) on Friday, May 9. If you’re attending GLEX in New Delhi, join us for the session. And, if

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01 May 2025 • Jatan Mehta

Indian Space Progress #27: Three months of mission updates, and fixing ISRO’s monthly summaries

ISRO has been publishing monthly summaries of the varied activities and programs of India’s Department of Space (DOS) for years. Lately though, there have been consistent delays in publishing them by a month or two, and sometimes even more. The summaries have been trimmed too, now conveying less

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28 Apr 2025 • Jatan Mehta

Moon Monday #223: International researchers to study Chang’e lunar samples, including US ones but without NASA funding

And more such interesting Moon exploration updates from China’s National Space Day on April 24.

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21 Apr 2025 • Jatan Mehta

Moon Monday #222: How China navigated failure to nail down lunar navigation success

Plus: Exploration and science updates from the US, South Korea, and Europe.