ROLSES

NASA eyes moon's dark side for astronomy, new telescopes

Anonymous — Wed, 19 May 2021 21:40:24 +0000

NASA eyes moon's dark side for astronomy, new telescopes Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 05/19/2021 - 15:40

Paul Brinkmann

From UPI: NASA scientists, as well as astronomers around the world, plan to install lunar observatories in the next few years to peer into the universe's ancient past -- just after the Big Bang.

Science equipment headed to the moon already includes a spectrometer built for launch in early 2022, known as ROLSES, which will study how sunlight charges the slight lunar atmosphere.

The acronym includes the word "sheath," which refers to a field of energy created by sunlight reflecting from the bright lunar surface. And NASA scientists are formulating plans for observatories on the far side of the moon, where darkness and clear sightlines could yield new discoveries about the universe before stars existed.

One bold plan to build a telescope in a lunar crater, the Lunar Crater Radio Telescope, has received $500,000 for further study. Read more…

Off

Traditional

White

A Roadmap for Science on the Moon

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Sep 2020 17:41:56 +0000

A Roadmap for Science on the Moon Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 09/30/2020 - 11:41

Daniel Strain

From CU �鶹ӰԺ Today: Scientists at CU �鶹ӰԺ have laid out a roadmap for a decade of scientific research at the moon.

Teams from the university will participate in four upcoming or proposed space missions that seek to use the moon as a unique laboratory for peering back to the dawn of the cosmos—collecting unprecedented data on an epoch in the life of the universe before the first stars formed.

The first of these efforts will deploy an instrument called Radiowave Observations at the Lunar Surface of the photoElectron Sheath (ROLSES). It’s slated to land on the moon in just over a year. Another involves a proposed satellite known as the Dark Ages Polarimetry Pathfinder (DAPPER). It could be in orbit around the Moon by the decade’s midway mark.

“It’s a completely unexplored part of the early universe, which we call the Dark Ages,” said Jack Burns, a professor in the Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences at CU �鶹ӰԺ. “We have no data from this period and no prospect of getting any data using traditional telescopes like the Hubble Space Telescope.”

Burns described the four missions during a virtual talk this month at the annual meeting of Lunar Exploration Advisory Group (LEAG), a scientific advisory body for NASA.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, who also attended the meeting, shared in the excitement. Read more…

Off

Traditional

White

Intuitive Machines selects landing site for CLPS mission

Anonymous — Tue, 14 Apr 2020 18:02:26 +0000

Intuitive Machines selects landing site for CLPS mission Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 04/14/2020 - 12:02

Jeff Foust

From SpaceNews: Intuitive Machines has identified a landing site for a commercial lunar lander mission next year that will carry payloads from NASA and other customers.

The Houston-based company announced April 13 that its IM-1 lander mission, scheduled for launch in October 2021, will touch down near a valley called Vallis Schröteri in Oceanus Procellarum, or the Ocean of Storms. That valley, or rille, is the largest on the moon, and was under consideration by NASA as a landing site for the Apollo 18 mission before that mission’s cancellation.

Within that region, the company said it found a desirable landing site, 200 meters across, for its lander. Images of the landing site from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter show that site to be flat and devoid of large craters or rocks that would be a hazard to the lander. It will also have abundant sunlight throughout the lunar day, which lasts 14 Earth days. Read more...

Off

Traditional

White

First Commercial Moon Delivery Assignments to Advance Artemis

Anonymous — Thu, 23 Jan 2020 18:04:18 +0000

First Commercial Moon Delivery Assignments to Advance Artemis Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 01/23/2020 - 11:04

Cheryl Warner

From NASA: NASA has finalized the first 16 science experiments and technology demonstrations, ranging from chemistry to communications, to be delivered to the surface of the Moon under the Artemis program. Scheduled to fly next year, the payloads will launch aboard the first two lander deliveries of the agency’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative. These deliveries will help pave the way for sending the first woman and the next man to the lunar surface by 2024.

In May 2019, the agency awarded two orders for scientific payload delivery to Astrobotic and Intuitive Machines, with both flights targeted to land on the Moon next year. Astrobotic, which will launch its Peregrine lander on a United Launch Alliance Vulcan Centaur rocket, will carry 11 NASA payloads to the lunar surface, while Intuitive Machines, which will launch its Nova-C lander on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, will carry five NASA payloads to the Moon.

“We’ve finished the work of assigning science and technology payloads to each of the initial CLPS deliveries,” said Chris Culbert, CLPS project manager at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. “This step allows our commercial partners to complete the important technical integration work necessary to fly the payloads and brings us a step closer to launching and landing the investigations that will help us better understand the Moon ahead of sending the first woman and next man to the Moon.” Read more...

Off

Traditional

White