ESA PLANNING TO BUILD AN INTERNATIONAL VILLAGE… ON THE MOON! 2 Mar , 2016 by Matt Williams

Multi-dome lunar base being constructed, based on the 3D printing concept.
Once assembled, the inflated domes are covered with a layer of 3D-printed lunar regolith
by robots to help protect the occupants against space radiation and micrometeoroids.
 Credits: ESA/Foster + Partners

Multi-dome lunar base being constructed, based on the 3D printing concept.
 Credits: ESA/Foster + Partners

Artist’s impression of a lunar base created with 3-d printing techniques.
Credits: ESA/Foster + Partners

The ESA recently elaborated its plan to create a Moon base by the 2030s. 

Credit: Foster + Partners is part of a consortium set up by the European Space Agency to explore

 the possibilities of 3D printing to construct lunar habitations.

 Credit: ESA/Foster + Partners

Architecture student Angelus Chrysovalantis Alfatzis’ concept for a lunar base.
 Credit: ESA

The Moon is the next destination for Europe’s space explorers and students from ESA’s Spaceship EAC
 initiative have been considering how we might live there.
This video entry was submitted to the Moon Village Association’s Newspace2060 International Moon Pitch
 competition in 2018. Placing runner-up, it shows one architectural concept for first-stage construction on the lunar surface.

Music: Borrtex – Space Travel.

Team members: Adam Storey, Aidan Cowley, Andrea Casini, Angelus Alfatzis, Corinne Hänggi, Dalmir Hasic, Giorgio Nicola, Lukas Offermann, Pablo Turrion, Rik Volger, Sabrina Alam and Yannick Bessekon.

   Find out more about the #SpaceshipEAC initiative on

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ESA is Europe's gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of
 Europe's space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver
 benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
 Check out  to get up to speed on everything space related.

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 Artist’s concept of a possible “International Lunar Village” on the Moon,
 assembled using inflated domes and 3D printing.
 Credits: ESA/Foster + Partners
  

The ESA has spent the past few years working towards the creation of an international lunar base,
 something that will serve as a spiritual successor to the International Space Station (ISS).
 To accomplish this, they have enlisted the help of other space agencies and contractors to develop
 concepts for space habitats and construction methods as well as ways to provide robotic and logistical support.

Artist’s concept of the lunar lander mated to the Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway.
 Credit: Lockheed Martin

European Space Agency, ESA
556K subscribers

The Heracles European Large Logistic Lander enables a series of proposed ESA missions to the Moon 
that could be configured for different operations such as cargo delivery, returning samples from 
the Moon or prospecting resources found on the Moon.
This video shows the cargo configuration of the lander, delivering supplies and even rovers or robots
 to the Moon’s surface for astronauts as part of NASA’s Artemis programme. 
The Heracles European Large Logistic Lander will bring a sample return package to a previously unexplored 
region near the lunar South Pole as an interesting area for researchers. 
Other goals of the missions include testing new hardware, demonstrating technology and gaining experience
in operations while strengthening international partnerships in exploration. Its development will provide 
an Ariane 64-based lunar cargo lander available for potential future commercialisation by European industry.
The sample return mission based on the Heracles European Large Logistic Lander enables an international programme
 to use the Gateway to the fullest and enable scientists on Earth to select and return samples of their choice 
 using artificial intelligence technology that is more capable than on previous missions.

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We are Europe's gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe's space capability
 and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
 Check out to get up to speed on everything space related. 
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China Plans Lunar Far Side Landing by 2020 by KEN KREMER on SEPTEMBER 23, 2015

China plans lunar far side landing with hardware similar to Chang’e-3 lander

This time-lapse color panorama from China’s Chang’e-3 lander shows the Yutu rover at two different positions 

during its trek over the Moon’s surface at its landing site from Dec. 15-18, 2013. This view was taken from the 360-degree panorama.

Credit: CNSA/Chinanews/Ken Kremer/Marco Di Lorenzo.

Mosaic of the Chang’e-3 moon lander and the lunar surface taken by the camera on China’s Yutu moon rover

from a position south of the lander during Lunar Day 3. Note the landing ramp and rover tracks at left.

 Credit: CNSA/SASTIND/Xinhua/Marco Di Lorenzo/Ken Kremer
 Mosaic of the Chang’e-3 moon lander and the lunar surface taken by the camera on China’s Yutu moon rover from a position south of the lander during Lunar Day 3.

 Note the landing ramp and rover tracks at left. Credit: CNSA/SASTIND/Xinhua/Marco Di Lorenzo/Ken Kremer

360-degree time-lapse color panorama from China’s Chang’e-3 lander. This new 360-degree time-lapse color panorama

from China’s Chang’e-3 lander shows the Yutu rover at five different positions, including passing by crater and heading south

and away from the Chang’e-3 lunar landing site forever during its trek over the Moon’s surface at its landing site from

Dec. 15-22, 2013 during the 1st Lunar Day. Credit: CNSA/Chinanews/Ken Kremer/Marco Di Lorenzo – kenkremer.com.

 See our Yutu timelapse pano
  "NASA APOD Feb. 3, 2014
  

Pyramid Rock, as named by the Chinese. This rock was ejected when the crater immediately behind it was created. 

Image: Chinese Academy of Sciences/China National Space Administration/The Science and Application Centre for

 Moon and Deep Space Exploration/Emily Lakdawalla.
 

This is a 360 degree panoramic image of the rover and part of the lander.

Bright white rocks litter the rim of the crater on the left.

 Image: Chinese Academy of Sciences/China National Space Administration/

 The Science and Application Centre for Moon and Deep Space Exploration/Emily Lakdawalla.
 

This image shows a lot of detail of the Yutu rover. Image: Chinese Academy of Sciences/China National Space Administration

/The Science and Application Centre for Moon and Deep Space Exploration/Emily Lakdawalla.
 

A high ranking member of China's secretive space agency has surprisingly revealed details
on the nation's ambitious plans for exploring both the moon and Mars.
Architect of the country's impending missions, Wu Weiren, provided the BBC with remarkable
 insight into the heretofore unknown intentions for China's space agency.
He told the broadcaster that they hope to soon both orbit as well as land on the moon in 
order to obtain samples from the celestial body.
That would merely be the initial stage of China's presence on the moon as Weiren says that
 they aim to ultimately establish a manned research base there.
A key factor in their aspirations reside on the far side of the moon, where China believes
 there may be water and ice that could prove to be valuable resources to future lunar denizens.
However, as might be expected given the state of current space exploration, China has begun
 setting their sights on Mars as a longterm goal for exploration.
In an intriguing revelation, Weiren indicated that the Chinese space agency was limited by their
 own government as far as allocating resources towards a Martian mission.
With that stance seemingly having changed, the agency is confident that it will reach the Red Planet 
by 2021 in an elaborate mission.
"We will orbit Mars, land, and deploy a rover - all in one mission," Weiren declared to the BBC.
Despite their lofty expectations, China faces a unique challenge due to the nature of their space agency.
Since it is part of the Chinese military, NASA is forbidden for working with them and the European 
Space Agency has only collaborated with them on one mission.
As such, the isolationist space agency has been forced to rely on Russian help as well as their own 
vast resources of scientists.
Weiren expressed hope that the stalemate with the United States can come to an end and both countries
 could work together to explore space.
Whether that proves to be case remains to be seen, but it may be in everyone's best interests rather 
than a space war over land and resources from the moon and beyond.
Source: BBC News
 

  The Chinese lunar rover, part of the upcoming Chang'e 4 mission to the far side of the Moon.
  Credit and ©: CASC/China Ministry of Defense
  

 The Chinese Yutu rover, part of the Chang’e 3 mission, on the Moon.
 Credit: CNSA
  

Ever since it made its historic landing on Jan. 3rd, 2019, the Chang’e-4 mission and its Yutu 2 rover
 have been busy exploring the lunar surface. Just recently, the mission passed its first year
 of operations and earned the distinction of being the first rover to travel a record 357.695 meters (1,173.5 ft)
 on the far side of the Moon. And in between all that, the mission has also provided some truly 
 fascinating images of the lunar surface.

Image of the Chang’e-4 lander, taken by the Yutu 2 rover.
 Credit: CNSA/GRAS/Doug Ellison

Thanks to 
@zengxingguo
 's pointers I got it work! Here's a random image -- 4 mega pixels -- from #ChangE4/#Yutu2's PanCAM,
 taken just a month ago (19/12/02). The full DR1 (38 GB!) 
 can be accessed at CLEP's PDS at 

Cylindrical panoramic of the Yutu 2 rover.
 Credit: CNSA/GRAS/Doug Ellison

 elevation data of the Moon, highlighting the low-lying regions of the South Pole-Aitken Basin.
 Credit: NASA/GSFC/University of Arizona
  

China launches Queqiao relay satellite to support Chang'e-4 lunar far side landing mission
  

Since the turn of the century, China has worked hard to become one of the fastest-rising powers in space.
 In 2003, the Chinese National Space Administration (CNSA) began sending their first taikonauts to space
 with the Shenzou program. This was followed by the deployment of the Tiangong-1 space station in 2011
 and the launch of Tiangong-2 in 2016. And in the coming years, China also has its sights set on the Moon.

Photo taken by China’s Chang’e-4 probe after its landing. Credit: Xinhua

A map showing the permanently shadowed regions (blue) that cover about 3 percent of the moon’s south pole.
 Credit: NASA Goddard/LRO mission

A render of the Chang’e-4 rover on the lunar surface, released Aug. 15th, 2018.
 Credit: CASC

New China TV
Published on Jan 2, 2019
A historic first landing! China's Chang'e-4 probe touched down on the far side of the moon
 Thursday,January 3, 2018 becoming the first spacecraft soft-landing on the moon's
 uncharted side never visible from Earth.

On January 3rd, 2019, China’s Chang’e-4 lander became the first mission in history to make a soft-landing
 on the far side of the Moon. After setting down in the Von Karman Crater in the South Pole-Aitken Basin,
 the rover element of the mission (Yutu 2) deployed and began exploring the lunar surface. In that time,
 the rover has traveled a total of 345.059 meters (377 yards) through previously unexplored territory.

In January 2019, China landed its Chang’e 4 mission on the Moon’s far side. The Yutu-2 rover got busy
 exploring its surroundings. It’s still going, even though the rover’s nominal operating mission was only three months.
Among the mission’s findings was a strange material described as “gel-like.” Now an analysis of the material
 has revealed that it’s just rock: impact melt breccia.

The small impact crater where the Yutu-2 rover found the gel-like material. 
It’s lightly highlighted in the center of the image. 
Image Credit: China Lunar Exploration Program.

This image shows the Yutu rover leaving the lander area and making its way on the lunar surface.
 Image: Chinese Academy of Sciences/China National Space Administration/
 The Science and Application Centre for Moon and Deep Space Exploration/Emily Lakdawalla.

Geologists think they’ve found the oldest Earth rock ever seen. And they found it
 in one of the last places you’d ever suspect, on the Moon. When the Apollo 14
 astronauts returned their lunar samples back to Earth, they were carrying one rock
 that had formed on Earth 4 to 4.1 billion years ago, which was carved out of our
 planet during the time of intense bombardment and delivered to the Moon.

Audio Podcast version:
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Published on May 22, 2013
This movie shows the variations in the lunar gravity field as measured
by NASA's Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) during the
primary mapping mission from March to May 2012. Very precise microwave
measurements between two spacecraft, named Ebb and Flow, were used to
map gravity with high precision and high spatial resolution. The field
shown resolves blocks on the surface of about 12 miles (20 kilometers)
and measurements are three to five orders of magnitude improved over
previous data. Red corresponds to mass excesses and blue corresponds to
mass deficiencies. The map shows more small-scale detail on the far
side of the moon compared to the nearside because the far side has many
more small craters.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MIT/GSFC
Category
Science & Technology
License
Standard YouTube License
 

Map showing variations in the lunar gravity field, as measured by NASA's Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) .

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MIT/GSFC
 

High-resolution of the Marius Hills pit, which lies over a possible lava tube in an ancient volcanic region

of the Moon called the Marius Hills.

Credit: NASA/GSFC/ASU
 

Artist concept of the GRAIL mission, twin spacecraft that fly in tandem around the Moon to measure its gravity field.

Credit: NASA/JPL
Much like Earth, the moon’s gravitational field is affected by masses below the surface.

“Any gravitational field is affected by the density of material,” said Sood. “If you are flying the spacecraft over a block 

of dense material, it will experience an increase in gravitational pull in contrary to flying over a lava tube void, 

in which case there will be a decrease in gravitational attraction experienced by the spacecraft.”

 

The Marius Hills Skylight, as observed by the Japanese SELENE/Kaguya research team.
Image by: NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University
 

Marius Hills, which shows multiple lunar domes and two large sinuous rilles.

 Credit: NASA/LPI
“[W]e have to remember that gravity is non-unique,” Sood added, “which means, in order to support our findings

 and to add to our ongoing efforts, our team is considering a ground penetrating radar that will probe the lunar

 subsurface from orbit. The goal of the radar would be to confirm the presence of the potential lava tube candidates

 that we have detected so far, and in addition, look for smaller lava tubes that were beyond the resolution of GRAIL gravity data.”

 

Artist’s impression of a surface exploration crew investigating a typical, small lava tunnel,
 to determine if it could serve as a natural shelter for the habitation modules of a Lunar Base.
 Credit: NASA’s Johnson Space Center
 

Arched passages in the main tube show the classic lava tube shape. The floor was the crust on a former lava lake
 that fell inward as it drained from beneath.
 Credit: Dave Bunnell/Under Earth Images/Wikipedia Commons
 

Artist’s impression of a lava tube measuring several kms wide, with the city of Philadelphia shown inside for scale:

 Purdue University/David Blair
Each of these holes could lead to subsurface voids or caverns, which range in diameter from about 16 feet (5 meters) 

to more than 2,950 feet (900 m). Assuming that just a fraction of these lead to underground tubes that are large enough

 to house an entire Earth city, there would be no shortage of possible settlement sites if and when it comes time to colonize the Moon.

 

The Chang’e-4 mission, the fourth installment in the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program,
 has made some significant achievements since it launched in December of 2018.
 In January of 2019, the mission lander and its Yutu 2 (Jade Rabbit 2)
 rover became the first robotic explorers to achieve a soft landing on the far side of the Moon.
 Around the same time, it became the first mission to grow plants on the Moon (with mixed results).

This series of three photographs was taken during the unfolding of an antenna on the Queqiao satellite.
 Credit and ©: Marc Klein Wolt/Radboud University

Queqiao (鹊桥, “Magpie Bridge”), the relay satellite for the Chang'e-4 lunar mission, 
entered the planned halo orbit around the second Lagrangian (L2) point of the Earth-Moon system,
 about 65,000 km from the Moon, on 14 June 2018, at 03:06 UTC (11:06 Beijing time).
 Queqiao was launched by a Long March-4C launch vehicle on 20 May 2018, 
 at 21:28 UTC (21 May, at 05:28 local time) and will provide relay communications 
 for the Chang'e-4 lunar mission (lander and rover), expected to be launched later
 this year to the Aitken Basin, in the south pole region of the Moon. 

Dutch antennas unfolded behind the moon

The three antennas on the Dutch-Chinese radio telescope, which is currently located behind the moon,
 have been unfolded. This was officially announced today by the Dutch team.
 The Netherlands-China Low Frequency Explorer (NCLE) hung in space waiting for over a year.
 This was longer than initially planned, as the accompanying communications satellite had
 to assist a Chinese lunar lander for a longer time.

Website of The European VLBI Network

The Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope

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Artist rendering of Orbital ATK concept for an initial lunar habitat outpost, as it would appear with NASA’s Orion spacecraft in 2021. 

Credit: Orbital ATK
 

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Based on a series of articles that were recently made available to the public,

NASA predicts it could build a base on the Moon by 2022, and for cheaper than expected.

Credit: NASA

Artist’s concept for a Lunar base. Credit: NASA

Artist’s concept for a lunar base built through in-situ-resource utilization (ISRU)

 and a form of 3D printing known as contour-crafitng.

 Credit: NASA

A lunar base as imagined by NASA in the 1970s, with a Mass Driver extending to the horizon. Credit: NASA

A lunar base could exist by 2022, and for cheaper than you expect. Credit: Kcida10

A lunar base could exist by 2022, and for cheaper than you expect. Credit: Kcida10

Lunar footprint from the Apollo missions. Credit: NASA

This shaded relief image shows the Moon’s Shackleton Crater, a 21-km-wide crater permanently shadowed crater
 near the lunar south pole. The crater’s interior structure is shown in false color based on data from NASA’s LRO probe.
 Credit: NASA

In the coming decades, multiple space agencies are planning to send astronauts to the lunar surface.
 More than that, between the European Space Agency (ESA), the China National Space Administration (CNSA)
 and Roscomos, there are multiple plans to construct permanent outposts on the Moon. Perhaps the best-known
 of these is the ESA’s plan to build  an International Lunar Village

Bigelow Lunar Outpost. Credit: Bigelow Aerospace

Bigelow Aerospace & United Launch Alliance have an agreement to push for the creation of an orbiting Lunar Depot

See Full Press Release Here: 

Interior schematic view of Bigelow Aerospace B330 expandable module.
 Credit: Bigelow Aerospace

View of the Vulcan Rocket. Credit: ULA

Artist's impression of a lunar base created with 3-d printing techniques.
 Credits: ESA/Foster + Partners

NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter image showing some of the newly discovered lava tube skylight candidates
 at Philolaus Crater near the North Pole of the Moon.
 Credit: NASA/LRO/SETI Institute/Mars Institute/Pascal Lee

The Moon will get 4G coverage next year(2019), 50 years after the first NASA astronauts walked on its surface.
Vodafone plans to create the first 4G network on the Moon to support a mission by PTScientists in 2019
and has today appointed Nokia as its technology partner.
Berlin-based company, PTScientists is working with Vodafone Germany and Audi to achieve the first privately-funded
Moon landing. Mission to the Moon is due to launch in 2019 from Cape Canaveral on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
Vodafone’s network expertise will be used to set up the Moon’s first 4G network, connecting two
Audi lunar quattro rovers to a base station in the Autonomous Landing and Navigation Module (ALINA).
Nokia, through Nokia Bell Labs, will create a space-grade Ultra Compact Network that will be the lightest
 ever developed - weighing less than one kilo, the same as a bag of sugar.
The 4G network will enable the Audi lunar quattro rovers to communicate and transfer scientific data
 and HD video while they carefully approach and study NASA’s Apollo 17 lunar roving vehicle that was used
 by the last astronauts to walk on the Moon (Commander Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt)
 to explore the Taurus-Littrow valley in December 1972.
 

Image showing the distribution of surface ice at the Moon's south pole (left) and north pole (right),
detected by NASA's Moon Mineralogy Mapper instrument.
 Credits: NASA

Exposed water ice (green or blue dots)
 in lunar polar regions and temperature.
 Credit: Shuai Li

This visualization, created using Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter laser altimeter data,
offers a view of Shackleton Crater located in the south pole of the moon.
 Thanks to these measurements, we now have our best-yet maps of the crater's
 permanently-shadowed interior! Note: This video contains no audio.

Since the 1960's, scientists have suspected that frozen water could survive in cold, dark craters
 at the Moon's poles. While previous lunar missions have detected hints of water on the Moon, new data from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) pinpoints areas near the south pole where water is likely to exist. The key to this discovery is hydrogen, the main ingredient in water: LRO uses its Lunar Exploration Neutron Detector, or LEND, to measure how much hydrogen is trapped within the lunar soil. By combining years of LEND data, scientists see mounting evidence of hydrogen-rich areas near the Moon's south pole, strongly suggesting the presence of frozen water.
 This video is public domain and can be downloaded at:


Like our videos? Subscribe to NASA's Goddard Shorts HD podcast:


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The first lunar maps consisted of simply the best images of the Moon from Earth-based telescopes,
 which were converted to provide necessary information for the Apollo astronauts.
But whenever the next lunar explorers arrive, they’ll have incredibly detailed topographic maps 
of the Moon’s surface, thanks to the high-resolution cameras and instruments on board satellites
 like the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. LRO’s Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) 
 zaps the Moon an incredible 140 times every second, measuring the ups and downs,
 nooks and crannies on the lunar surface to an accuracy within four inches.

Lunar Craters as imaged by NASA’s Moon Mineralogy Mapper. 
Image Credit: SRO/NASA/JPL-Caltech/USGS/Brown Univ.

The locations of the Diviner LCROSS impact swaths overlain on a grayscale daytime thermal map 
of the Moon’s south polar region. Diviner data were used to help select the final 
LCROSS impact site inside Cabeus Crater, which sampled an extremely cold region 
in permanent shadow that can serve as an effective cold trap for water ice and other frozen volatiles.
 Credit NASA/GSFC/UCLA

Ever since Elon Musk announced the latest addition to the SpaceX rocket family back in September of 2016,
the general public and space community has been eagerly awaiting updates on its progress.
 Known as the Big Falcon Rocket (BFR), this massive launch vehicle is central to Musk’s plan of conducting space
 tourism with flights into orbit and to the Moon. It is also intrinsic to his vision of sending astronauts
 and colonists to Mars.

Graphic showing the various stages of the BFR’s first lunar mission.
 Credit: SpaceX

New space-inspired art project #dearMoon hosted by Yusaku Maezawa,Japanese entrepreneur.
To launch it, project introduction movie aired at a press conference
with Mr. Elon Musk at September 17, 2018 SpaceX HQ.
 Credit: SpaceX

Blue Origin is going to the Moon. In an hour-long presentation in Washington DC on May 9,2019
Jeff Bezos spelled out his plans for reaching the Moon, confirming what many guessed
 he was hinting at in a tweet from the previous week.

An artist’s illustration of the Blue Moon lander. On its top deck are four rovers
for deployment on the surface.
 Image Credit: Blue Origin

Blue Moon is a flexible lander delivering a wide variety of small, medium and large payloads
to the lunar surface. Its capability to provide precise and soft landings
 will enable a sustained human presence on the Moon.
  Learn more at

An illustration of the larger version of the Blue Moon lander.
 Note the ascent vehicle mounted on top.
 Image Credit: Blue Origin.

On May 9, 2019, our founder discussed his vision to go to space to benefit Earth.

In addition, he also announced the Blue Moon lunar lander, which is capable of
taking people and payloads to the lunar surface. Below you’ll find more information about these announcements.
Blue Moon lunar lander: Blue Origin announced Blue Moon, its large lunar lander capable
of delivering multiple metric tons of payload to the lunar surface based on configuration
 and mission. The cargo variant revealed today can carry 3.6 metric tons to the surface.
 We have also designed a variant of the lander that can stretch to be capable of
 carrying a 6.5-metric-ton, human-rated ascent stage. Blue also announced it can meet
 the current Administration's goal of putting Americans on the Moon by 2024 with the Blue Moon lunar lander.
BE-7 engine: The Blue Moon lunar lander will be powered by the BE-7 engine, a new addition
to Blue Origin’s family of engines. The BE-7’s 40 kN (10,000 lbf) thrust is designed for large
 lunar payload transport. The engine’s propellants are a highly-efficient combination of
 liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. The BE-7 will have its first hotfire this summer.
 The engine will be available for sale to other companies for use in in-space and lander applications.
Club For the Future: A non-profit founded by Blue Origin dedicated to inspiring and engaging the
 next generation of dreamers and space entrepreneurs as we journey to preserve Earth and unlock
 the potential of living and working in space. The Club will bring together K-12 students,
 educators and leaders for campaigns and initiatives utilizing Blue Origin’s unique access to space.
 The Club’s first activity will be to send a postcard to space and back on a future
 New Shepard mission—the first ever space mail.  Learn more on the website
 Follow @ClubforFuture on Twitter and Instagram.

Moon Rise Logo

The Moon is not just Earth’s closest celestial neighbor. It’s also a natural waypoint
for any mission that will be going to Mars or beyond in the coming years.
It’s little wonder then why space agencies like NASA, Roscosmos, the ESA and China
are hoping to send crewed missions there in the near future and construct bases
that could be used to resupply and refuel missions headed to deep space.

An illustration of a Moon base that could be built using 3D printing and ISRU,
 In-Situ Resource Utilization.
 Credit: RegoLight, visualization: Liquifer Systems Group, 2018

Artist’s rendition of the ESA’s International Moon Village.
Credit: ESA/Foster + Partners

Artist’s concept for a lunar base built by construction robots and a form
of 3D printing known as contour-crafting.
 Credit: NASA

JAXA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, is teaming up with the nation’s largest company 
to build a lunar rover. Toyota, the second largest automobile company in the world
 (only Volkswagen makes more cars) has signed a development deal with JAXA that will last three years.
 The goal? To design, build, test and evaluate prototypes for a pressurized,
 crewed lunar vehicle that runs on fuel-cells.

An artist’s illustration of the lunar rover. 
Image Credit: JAXA/Toyota

NASA’s Lunar Roving Vehicle at its final resting place on the Moon. It looks primitive 
compared to the proposed Toyota/JAXA vehicle.
 Image Credit: By NASA/Dave Scott; – cropped by User:Bubba73 < (direct link),/A>
  Public Domain,(WKIPEDIA)

An artist’s illustration of the proposed rover, with an astronaut for scale.
 Image Credit: JAXA/Toyota

An artist’s illustration of the lunar rover with fuel cells. 
Image Credit: JAXA/Toyota

JAXA and Toyota Commence Joint Research into Manned Pressurized Rover (PDF)

okyo, Japan, March 12, 2019―The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
 and Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) announce their agreement today to consider
 the possibility of collaborating on international space exploration.
 As a first step, JAXA and Toyota have reached agreement to further cooperate 
 on and accelerate their ongoing joint study of a manned, pressurized rover 
 that employs fuel cell electric vehicle technologies. Such a form of mobility 
 is deemed necessary for human exploration activities on the lunar surface.
 Even with the limited amount of energy that can be transported to the moon,
 the pressurized rover would have a total lunar-surface cruising range of more than 10,000 km.

 More information:

 Toyota Motor Corporation Official Global Website:
 Toyota Motor Corporation on Twitter:

In the coming years, NASA will be sending astronauts back to the Moon for the first time 
since the last Apollo mission took place in 1972. Back in May, NASA announced that the plan
 – which is officially known as Project Artemis – was being expedited and would take place in the next five years.
 In accordance with the new timeline, Artemis will involve sending the first woman and next man 
 to the Moon’s southern polar region by 2024.

Conceptual illustration of permanently shadowed, shallow icy craters near the lunar south pole.
 Credits: UCLA/NASA

A VIPER mobility testbed, an engineering model created to evaluate the rover’s mobility system.
 Credits: NASA/Johnson Space Center

Artist’s illustration of Project Artemis lunar lander. 
Credit: NASA

NASA is sending a mobile robot to the south pole of the Moon to get a close-up view 
of the location and concentration of water ice in the region and for the first time ever,
 actually sample the water ice at the same pole where the first woman and next man
 will land in 2024 under the Artemis program. 
About the size of a golf cart, the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, or VIPER, 
will roam several miles, using its four science instruments — including a 1-meter drill — to sample various soil environments. Planned for delivery in December 2022, VIPER will collect about 100 days of data that will be used to inform development of the first global water resource maps of the Moon.  

: Learn more

Video credit: NASA/Ames Research Center

 The video may be downloaded at:

A false-colour graphic of the far side of the Moon showing the impact crater.
Image Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/University of Arizona

This image shows mantle mass excess per unit area. A large excess of mass in the southern interior
of the South Pole-Aitken basin coincides with the central depression, outlined here with a dashed gray circle.
Black lines mark the best fit ellipses for the South Pole-Aitken basin’s inner ring, outer ring, and exterior scarp.
Image Credit: James et. al., 2019.

The gravity map of the Moon created by GRAIL. Red represents mass excesses,
and blue represents mass deficiencies.
Image Credit: By NASA/JPL-Caltech/MIT/GSFC – GRAIL’s Gravity Map of the Moon, , Public Domain

A schematic of the structure of the Moon. Image Credit: By Bryan Derksen at English Wikipedia –
Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons by Liftarn using CommonsHelper.,
 Public Domain,

Another image of the South Pole-Aitken basin from Japan’s Kaguya probe.
 By Ittiz – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0,

A side by side comparison of SPA (right) and the Moon’s Orientale Basin (left.)
Note the bullseye pattern in the Orientale impact basin,a nd the absence
of a bullseye pattern in the SPA basin.
Image Credit: NASA/GRAIL

The eerie, hellish glow coming from the Moon may seem unreal in this image,
 since it’s invisible to our eyes. But instruments that detect gamma rays 
 tell us it’s real. More than just a grainy, red picture, it’s a vivid reminder 
 that there’s more going on than meets human eyes.
It’s also a reminder that any humans that visit the Moon need 
to be protected from this high-energy radiation.

An artist’s concept of an active galactic nuclei hosting an energetic blazar.
 Active galacitc nuclei are one source of cosmic rays. When those rays strike the Moon,
 gamma rays are created.
 Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab.

The Moon shines brightly in gamma rays as seen in this time sequence from NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray
 Space Telescope. Each 5-by-5-degree image is centered on the Moon and shows gamma rays 
 with energies above 31 million electron volts, or tens of millions of times that of visible light.
 At these energies, the Moon is actually brighter than the Sun. Brighter colors indicate greater
 numbers of gamma rays. This animation shows how longer exposure, ranging from two to 128 months (10.7 years),
 improved the view.
Credit: NASA/DOE/Fermi LAT Collaboration

The Moon shines brightly in gamma rays as seen in this time sequence from NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope.
 Each 5-by-5-degree image is centered on the Moon and shows gamma rays with energies above 31 million electron volts,
 or tens of millions of times that of visible light. At these energies, the Moon is actually brighter than the Sun.
 Brighter colors indicate greater numbers of gamma rays. This animation shows how longer exposure, 
 ranging from two to 128 months (10.7 years), improved the view.
Credit: NASA/DOE/Fermi LAT Collaboration

The Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Observatory is not the only observatory to see the Moon’s gamma radiation.
 The Compton Gamma Ray Observatory captured this image of the Moon’s gamma rays. 
 Image Credit: By D. J. Thompson, D. L. Bertsch (NASA/GSFC), D. J. Morris (UNH), R. Mukherjee (NASA/GSFC/USRA)  
 Public Domain,

The Sun’s magnetic field varies in both strength and complexity during its 11-year cycle.
 This comparison shows the relative complexity of the solar magnetic field between 
 January 2011 (left) and July 2014. In January 2011, three years after solar minimum,
 the field is still relatively simple, with open field lines concentrated near the poles
 . At solar maximum, in July 2014, the structure is much more complex,
 with closed and open field lines poking out all over.

 If we saw the sky in gamma rays, the same way the Fermi Space Telescope does,
 it would be unrecognizable. This image was constructed from six years of Fermi observations. 
 It shows the entire sky at energies between 50 billion (GeV) and 2 trillion electron volts (TeV).
 The bright band in the middle is the central plane of the Milky Way. Some of the brightest
 sources are pulsar wind nebulae and supernova remnants within our galaxy, as well as
 distant galaxies called blazars powered by supermassive black holes. Labels show the highest-energy sources,
 all located within our galaxy and emitting gamma rays exceeding 1 TeV. 
 Image Credit: NASA/DOE/Fermi LAT Collaboration

Artist’s impression of a possible Space Elevator. 
Credit: NASA

In this short video explainer, Universe Today publisher Fraser Cain explains the interesting
 idea of space elevators. Could a tether from the surface of the Earth carry satellites into space?

Artist’s concept for a lunar elevator. 
Credit: Liftport/Michael Laine

Illustration of the Spaceline, an alternative to a Space Elevator.
 Credit: Penoyre & Standford (2019)

A team of NASA engineers has fashioned the world’s first telescope mirrors made from carbon nanotubes.
 Credit: NASA

Artist’s illustration showing the location of the Sun-Earth Lagrange Points.
 Credit: NASA

THE SPACELINE: A PRACTICAL SPACE ELEVATOR ALTERNATIVE ACHIEVABLE WITH CURRENT TECHNOLOGY (PDF)

There is no doubt that one of the hallmarks of the modern space age is the way it is 
becoming increasingly democratic. In addition to more space agencies entering the fray,
 private aerospace companies are contributing like never before. It is no surprise then 
 that there are innovators and entrepreneurs that want to increase public access and
 participation in space exploration.

Spacebit’s ultimate goal is to democratize space exploration by sending missions 
to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. 
Credit: Spacebit

Artist’s impression of the ULA Vulcan Centaur launching.
 Credit: ULA

Artist’s impression of Astrobiotic’s Peregrine lander on the Moon.
 Credit: Astrobiotic

For more information  - visit our official website

Spcebit's website

In the coming decades, NASA has ambitious plans to send astronauts back to the Moon and conduct 
the first crewed mission to Mars. In order to accomplish these lofty goals,
 the agency is investing in cutting-edge technology and partnering with major aerospace companies 
 to create the necessary spacecraft and mission components.

Artist’s concept of the lunar lander mated to the Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway.
 Credit: Lockheed Martin

Artist’s concept of the lunar lander and crew on the lunar surface. 
Credit: Lockheed Martin

Spacex's website

Things are looking pretty good for Elon Musk and SpaceX, the company he founded back in 2002
 with the intent of reinvigorating space exploration. In the last six months alone,
 SpaceX has deployed the first batch of its Starlink broadband internet satellites to space,
 conducted two successful untethered tests with the Starship Hopper,
 and finished work on the first orbital-class Starship test vehicle (the Mk.1).

Stainless Steel Starship on the Moon. 
Credit: SpaceX

Artist’s illustration of a SpaceX Starship lands on Mars.
 Credit: SpaceX

Artist’s impression of the stainless steel Starship and Super Heavy launch system in orbit.
 Credit: SpaceX

The prospect of mining asteroids and the Moon is on a lot of peoples’ minds lately. Maybe it’s all the growth 
that’s happened in the commercial aerospace industry in the past few decades. Or perhaps it’s because of
 Trump’s recent executive order to allow for asteroid and lunar mining. Either way, there is no shortage
 of entrepreneurs and futurists who can’t wait to start prospecting and harvest the natural bounty of space!

Different colors on a new geologic map of the moon designate different types of rock and sediment 
formations on the moon. For instance, craters associated with the Eratosthenian period on the moon
 (about 3.2 billion to 1.1 billion years ago) are typically marked green. 
 Craters from the older Imbrian period (around 3.9 billion to 3.2 billion years ago) 
 are generally painted blue.

 Read more:

Video: GSFC/NASA, USGS

The full map and descriptions of mineral deposits. 
Credit: USGS/USRA

Illustration of Artemis astronauts on the Moon.
 Credits: NASA

India's Chandrayaan 2 has been orbiting the moon for over a year but hasn't been sharing
 the data with the world until just before Christmas. I'd been hoping that the high 
 resolution camera would let us see things on the moon in a detail we'd not seen before, 
 but it appears that they've only shared 3 images and 2 of those are blurry.

Still I hope this is a start and we'll be seeing more data in the future.


Data is available from:

Click here to return to top of page

NASA has delayed their Artemis mission to the Moon, but that doesn’t mean 
a return to the Moon isn’t imminent. Space agencies around the world
 have their sights set on our rocky satellite. No matter who gets there,
 if they’re planning for a sustained presence on the Moon, they’ll require in-situ resources.

An Apollo 17 astronaut digs in the lunar regolith to study the mechanical behaviour of moon dust.
 Credit: NASA

Artist depiction of a lunar lander utilizes the FAST landing pad deposition technology.
Credit – Masten Space Systems

Graphic showing the difference between landing with or without the deposition system.
Credit – Masten Space Systems

Graphic showing the whole system process of the FAST particle injector.
Credit – Master Space Systems

Example of how much dust can be kicked up even on Earth as one of Masten’s rockets is test fired.
Credit – Masten Space Systems

Example of the effects of an alumina plate, similar to what would be deposited 
on the moon’s surface in a fully scaled up system. An infrared 
image of the rocket exhaust can be seen to the right.
Credit – Masten Space Systems

An artist’s conception shows SpaceX’s Starship on the lunar surface. 
Credit: SpaceX via NASA.

The Moon has inspired and beckoned generations to explore. NASA’s Artemis I mission will forge a new path to the Moon, 
charting a course for a new, diverse generation of explorers. We’ll develop the cutting-edge technology 
we'll need to venture even farther – to Mars and beyond. The Artemis I rocket and spacecraft are now 
combined and undergoing final testing at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where it will soon launch
 on the first in a series of increasingly ambitious missions. Thanks to the daily efforts of 
 NASA and its international and industry team members, our dreams are poised to take flight.
 We are going.

Producer: Barbara Zelon, Alysia Lee
Writer & Director: Paul Wizikowski
Editor: Phil Sexton
Sound Mix: Eric Land
Lunar Photography: Andrew McCarthy
Workforce Photography: NASA, ESA
Narrator: NASA Astronaut Victor Glover

NASA’s Space Launch System rocket for the Artemis 1 mission stands tall in the
 Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center.
 (NASA Photo / Frank Michaux)

A microwave oven–sized cubesat launched to space today from New Zealand
 by commercial company Rocket Lab and their Electron rocket.
 The small satellite will conduct tests to make sure the 
 unique lunar orbit for NASA’s future Lunar Gateway is actually stable.  

Illustration of the Gateway. Built with commercial and international partners, 
the Gateway is critical to sustainable lunar exploration and will 
serve as a model for future missions to Mars.
 Credit: NASA

In this illustration, NASA’s Orion spacecraft approaches the Gateway in lunar orbit.
 Credits: NASA

An image of the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment,
 or CAPSTONE, launching aboard Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket from the Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 
 on the Mahia Peninsula of New Zealand Tuesday, June 28, 2022.
 Credit: Rocket Lab

Animation of the CAPSTONE mission in orbit of the Moon.
 Credits: NASA/Daniel Rutter

Concept art of a fission reactor on the surface of the moon.
Credit – NASA
If NASA’s Artemis project to return to the Moon permanently is going to succeed, it will need a lot of power.
 Shipping traditional fossil fuels up there is impractical, and surface solar cells won’t work for the 
 two weeks that a given side of the Moon is shadowed. So the best option may be to set up a nuclear power station.
 NASA solicited some ideas along those lines with a preliminary design request for proposal –
 and they recently announced that three groups would each receive $5 million to develop 
 preliminary designs for surface-based lunar fission reactors.

Space is the worst. It’s got hostile radiation, a total lack of atmosphere,
 near absolute zero temperatures, problematic gravity wells, and worse. 
In order to keep your spacecraft alive in that environment, you need electricity 
to keep it warm. Not to mention all the power to run scientific instruments
 and the transmitters to send that data home.
Getting enough power in space is a big problem.

Audio Podcast version:
ITunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/universe-today-podcasts-with-fraser-cain/id794058155?mt=2

RSS: https://www.universetoday.com/audio

Video Podcast version:
ITunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/bh/podcast/universe-today-video/id794057165?mt=2

RSS: https://www.universetoday.com/video

What is Fraser's Watching Playlist:


Universetoday's youtube channel

Sign up to my weekly email newsletter:

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Support us at:Support us at:
 
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More stories at

Team: Fraser Cain - @fcain / frasercain@gmail.com
 /Karla Thompson - @karlaii
 
 Chad Weber -
 
 Chloe Cain - Instagram: @chloegwen2001
Chloe Cain - Instagram: @chloegwen2001
References:



About the Space Station Solar Arrays

ESA's 30% efficiency solar cell

Technologies for Severe Environments for the Mars Exploration Rover Mission:

Powering the Voyager Spacecraft with Radiation: The RTG (Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator)

NASA's Juno Spacecraft Breaks Solar Power Distance Record

Wolfram Alpha distance to voyager 1 in light hours

Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTG)

What is a Multi-Mission a Radioisotpe Thermoelectic Generator?  (PDF)

Ideas for new NASA mission can now include spacecraft powered by plutonium

NASA Memo Regarding Radio-Isotope Thermal Generators

Dozens of dead nuclear reactors are floating in space, and they'll eventually hit the earth

Space Technology
Game Changing Development
The Fission System Gateway to
Abundant Power for Exploration

The Nuclear Disaster of Kosmos 954

Space Technology Mission Directorate Kilopower

Workers install the vacuum chamber around the KRUSTY experiment.
Credit – NNSA

Living and working in space for extended periods of time presents a number of challenges. These include radiation,
 as locations beyond Earth’s protective magnetosphere are exposed to greater levels of solar and cosmic rays.
 There’s also the need for self-sufficiency since Lunar or Martian bases are too far to rely on regular resupply missions
 like the International Space Station (ISS). Last, there’s the issue of low gravity, which is especially pressing 
 for long-term missions and habitats beyond Earth. If humanity’s future truly lies in space, we must devise solutions to this issue in advance.
 Credit: Kajima Construction

32,443 views  Jul 5, 2022  京都大学と鹿島建設が、宇宙に関するある研究を始めたと発表しました。
月や火星に「住む」という人類の夢が、実現するかもしれません。

【鹿島建設 関西支店 建築設計部 大野琢也さん】
「火星や月は地球に比べて（表面重力が）かなり小さいです。こういうところに人類はいずれ住むであろうと」

5日、京都大学と鹿島建設は月や火星に住むための「人工重力施設」を、共同で研究すると発表しました。
地球と比べて、火星の重力は3分の1、月は6分の1しかありません。

そこで、回転による遠心力を使って、人工的に地球と同じ重力（1G）を発生させ、地球と同じように過ごせる居住施設「ルナグラス」をつくるというのです。

月のような重力の小さい空間では、哺乳類が正常に繁殖し、成長できるのか分かっていません。
しかし、「ルナグラス」の中は地球と同じ重力で、出産なども可能となり、ここで生活していれば、いつでも地球に戻れる体を維持できるということです。

また、同じく「人工重力」を使った移動手段の研究もスタート。
月の上を走る「ルナビーグル」、星の間を移動する「スペースエクスプレス」をつくる構想です。

【京都大学大学院 総合生存学館 山敷庸亮 教授」
「移動の間も地球と同じ重力（1G）環境を保証しようと。（スペースエクスプレスは）かなりの加速が必要で、ロケットで牽引（けんいん）するのがいいかなと思ってます」

月や火星に「住む」。夢のある話ですが、本当にできるのでしょうか？

【京都大学大学院 山敷庸亮 教授】
「もちろん技術的にはまだ全然ですが、この段階でアイデアを出すことが非常に重要。できれば月までは行きたい。もっといえば火星まで行きたい」

鹿島建設の大野さんは、「2050年にはなんらかの形で月面で構想を実現したい」としています。

カンテレ「報道ランナー」2022年7月5日放送
関西のニュースをお届けします！【カンテレNews】https://www.ktv.jp/news/
チャンネル登録をお願いします！　http://www.youtube.com/channel/ UCQhaZjODkIjuv38d-i5TVRw?sub_confirmation=1

#月　#京大　#鹿島建設　#人工重力施設　#共同研究

Interior view of the rotating Lunagrass base.
 Credit: Kajima Construction

Animation of the “Luna Beagle” transiting between Earth and the Moon.
 Credit: Kajima Construction

A graphic showing the orbital path the Danuri Lunar Pathfinder
 spacecraft will take to go into orbit around the Moon.
 Credit: Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI)

The Danuri lunar orbiter, carried by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, 
lifts off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, Aug. 4, 2022.
 Via The Korea Times/ Joint Press Corps

대한민국 첫 달 탐사선 '다누리'가
2022년 8월5일 8시8분, 드디어 우주로 출발했습니다.

다누리는 이날 
미국 플로리다주 케이프커내버럴 우주군 기지에서
스페이스X 팰컨9 발사체에 실려 발사됐습니다.

달, 그리고 더 먼 우주를 향한 첫 번째 걸음이 될
다누리, 그 감동적인 발사 순간을 영상으로 만나봅니다.

* 발사 장면 출처: SpaceX

#다누리 #스페이스X #달탐사

A graphic showing the Danuri spacecraft orbiting the Moon.
 Credit: KARI on Instagram

In this decade, multiple space agencies will send astronauts to the Moon
 for the first time since the Apollo Era. In addition to NASA, the ESA,
 China, and Roscosmos, commercial space entities like SpaceX and Blue Origin
 are hoping to conduct regular missions in support of human exploration while
 also mounting their own private ventures. In time, this activity could result
 in the creation of permanent infrastructure, a regular human presence, 
 and the emergence of a lunar economy. Nevertheless, there are many questions
 about how humans will live in lunar conditions and what type of facilities will be needed.

This novel and maybe even disruptive lunar habitat design for the 
polar regions is based on a study funded by 
ESA´s  ( European Space Agency)  OSIP program.
The ultralight prefabricated inflatable structure covered with 
several meters of loose regolith for protection from micrometeorites
 and cosmic radiation. A mirror that rotates towards the sun reflects
 the useful spectrum of natural sunlight into a greenhouse 
 for self-sufficient production of food and oxygen.
The structure is modular. Several modules can form a large Moonbase or even Moon village

Authors:

Thomas Herzig: Architect specialized in inflatable structures

Gabor Bihari:  Physicist

Norbert Kömle:  Astrophysicist

Also view our MARS HABITAT video, that was the predecessor of this design : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4dLU...

Contact :
Thomas Herzig
Weyringergasse 29/17,  1040 Vienna,  Austria
Phone: +43 699 11 10 12 20
E-Mail Thomas Herzig
Thomas Herzig: Architect specialized in inflatable structures

Artist’s impression of a European liftoff from the Moon.
 Credit: ESA

Shown here is a rendering of 13 candidate landing regions for Artemis III.
 Credits: NASA

The Inflatable Moon Habitat concept.
 Credit: ESA/Herzig et al.

The Lunar Outpost, an ESA-supported design study for a base on the Moon. 
Credit: Foster & Partners

Habitats grouped together on the rim of a lunar crater, known as the Moon Village.
 Credit: ESA