Moon Monday #296

Moon Monday #295 and Indian Space Progress #44: The story of an automated lunar descent done right.

Moon Monday #294. Plus a poetic ode to Luna.

Moon Monday #293 and Indian Space Progress #43.

Gracious gray amid the blue & bright
Surreal silver against the night

Sometimes an uncanny crescent
or a gibbous glow in ascent

Other times a hollow halo
or a cloud glow

Reflective and rolling, when near
Stony stark skyline, when on it

Cosmic microcosm, when held
Enticing enigma, when leaving

I link so you can click.

Moon Monday #291: A comprehensive review of each major component China has demonstrated towards such a lunar network.

Moon Monday #290: Lunar samples brought by Apollo missions transformed our understanding of the Moon’s formation and Earth’s past. Chang’e and Chandrayaan missions have newly enriched the endeavor as scientists continue unraveling its complex layers.

Moon Monday #289: They form near-instantly and offer a peak into the Moon's interior, improving our understanding of planets across the Solar System.

Indian Space Progress #41-42: A garden does not save the forest.

Moon Monday #288: Realizations from fundamental physics at the heart of the rocket equation. Paired with memes for fun and poetry for ethics.

Craft launched from Luna, no tether
can go farther, faster
while being lighter

Exploring more worlds
with joy and curiosity
hosting ideas, deploying empathy
and even skepticism for humanity

From the edge of a gravitational well
they can push the discourse
and shape its course

All of these futures can

Before we begin, I’m thrilled to share that Open Lunar Foundation is continuing as a sponsor of my Moon Monday blog+newsletter for the sixth year! 🌕

Open Lunar is a US-based non-profit organization with a global team that develops bottom-up tools of lunar governance to enable

Moon Monday #286: China’s Chang’e 6 samples have helped scientists decipher enigmatic layers of the lunar farside, leaving a curious trail for future missions to build upon.

Moon Monday #285

* Why explore asteroids, comets, and other small worlds
* When to worry about an asteroid hitting Earth
* Psyche, exploring a metal world
* Japan wants to sample Mars’ moon Phobos with its MMX mission
* Weirdest types of moons in our Solar System

Related: Articles on moons other than our Moon

Like my

A curated page of resources to learn and share how countries worldwide have explored our stellar cosmic companion.

In 2021, the United Nations proclaimed July 20th as International Moon Day, via the resolution 76/76 on “international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space”. Some key goals of the day are to promote awareness about our Moon’s unique scientific and cultural importance as well as how

I’m very much a Moon person but I’ve written a bit about Mars over the years as well, highlighting a few key aspects about the red planet’s exploration which I thought aren’t discussed as much or in detail.

NASA explores Mars

* Looking back at Pathfinder as

Moon Monday #283: Some engineers and scientists are leading by example.

A contextualized overview of the world’s Moon exploration efforts.

Announcement before we begin: I’m excited to welcome PierSight as a returning sponsor of my independent space writing for another year! 🌙

Ahmedabad-based PierSight is building a constellation of SAR satellites equipped with AIS sensors for persistent, all-weather ocean studies and monitoring. With $8 million raised in funds,

Plus: What the agency’s planning in the lead up to safe Apollo astronaut landings teaches us about preparing for the next frontier this century.

Moon Monday #279: “Artemis updates inside”, like “intel inside”. All puns intended.

Indian Space Progress #39-40: How a multitude of causes slow down the pace of India’s launch vehicles, and what would it take for the country to achieve an optimum “hat-trick” state given its many needs and ambitions in space.

Moon Monday #278: A master list of organized, linked articles covering ISRO’s Chandrayaan lunar program, mission by mission.

Moon Monday #277: How quickly Blue flies New Glenn again, the timing and outcome of the first Mark 1 lander flight, and what NASA shares about the crewed Mark 2 are the key things to watch out for.

Moon Monday #276: NASA’s road to putting humans on the Moon through SpaceX Starship continues to face a receding sea of milestones to achieve.

The near-polar lunar surface and environment had never been measured in-situ before Chandrayaan 3 arrived. Now our understanding of it has been grounded in measurements just as we prepare to send a wave of Moon missions.

Artemis updates

* Science communicator Hank Green made this interactive website of photos spread across the timeline of the Artemis II lunar mission and flyby.
* Among the technological checkpoints passed by Artemis II, the NASA-MIT-developed optical laser communications terminal on the Orion spacecraft was successfully used to transmit and receive data