{"id":30062,"date":"2022-03-24T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-03-24T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/?post_type=purple_issue&p=30062"},"modified":"2022-04-20T13:24:59","modified_gmt":"2022-04-20T13:24:59","slug":"return-to-the-moon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/2022\/03\/24\/return-to-the-moon\/","title":{"rendered":"Return to the Moon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
<\/div>
\n

Return to the Moon<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Moon is about to get busy, both in orbit and on the surface<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2022 is going to be a bumper year for lunar missions. Orbiters are set to begin hunting for potential resources, while landers plan on alighting at the lunar south pole for the first time, and a fleet of rovers are set to scuttle across the surface.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several of these missions are participating in NASA\u2019s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) project, which pays commercial spaceflight enterprises to carry payloads to the Moon\u2019s surface in preparation for the upcoming Artemis landings. Elsewhere in the world, spacecraft from national space agencies and commercial companies based in India, Japan, Russia and South Korea are readying to make the trip. Lunar rush hour is about to begin.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Nova-C IM-1, Intuitive Machines<\/span><\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

A lunar lander due to launch as part of NASA\u2019s CLPS scheme in early 2022, Nova-C IM-1 will carry five NASA payloads, CubeSats and a mini-rover from UK-led company Spacebit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
CAPSTONE, NASA<\/span><\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

A small CubeSat helping to test the gravitational stability of the orbit for NASA\u2019s Gateway lunar space station. CAPSTONE is due to launch on 19 March for a nine-month mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Luna 25, Roscosmos<\/span><\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

The Russians are returning to the Moon after 46 years, this time heading to the south pole to investigate the composition of the lunar soil. The mission is due to launch on 22 July.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Chandrayaan-3, Indian Space Research Organisation<\/span><\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

India\u2019s third lunar mission will be a second attempt at landing, after crashing in 2019. ISRO hopes to launch the new lander in the second half of 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Peregrine, Astrobotic<\/span><\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Another CLPS mission, this time from US company Astrobotic, the Peregrine lander is due to launch in mid 2022. It\u2019ll carry NASA payloads and rovers from the UK, Chile, Japan, Mexico and Hungary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter, Korea Aerospace Research Institute<\/span><\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Marking South Korea\u2019s first foray into planetary exploration, this orbiter is largely a technology demonstration, but will also survey resources such as water ice and aluminium. It\u2019s due to launch on 1 August.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
HAKUTO-R, ispace<\/span><\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Originally a contestant in the Google Lunar X Prize, Japanese spaceflight company ispace will land a commercial payload on the Moon in October 2022, though they have a future contract with ESA to extract lunar water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Nova-C IM-2, Intuitive Machines<\/span><\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Intuitive Machines will attempt its second landing on the Moon in late 2022, less than 12 months after its first attempt. This time it\u2019ll be heading to the lunar south pole, with the aim of drilling 1m into the surface to look for water ice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Smart Lander for Investigating the Moon (SLIM), JAXA<\/span><\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Using software developed from facial recognition technology to identify lunar craters, this trial mission from the Japanese space agency will attempt to land with high-precision accuracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>
\n

Coming in 2023<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Xelene will take NASA and commercial payloads to the Moon\u2019s Haworth Crater <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Xelene, Masten Space Systems: <\/strong>CLPS mission <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blue <\/strong>Ghost, <\/strong>Firefly <\/strong>Aerospace: <\/strong>CLPS mission<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alina, Planetary Transportation Systems: <\/strong>Former Google Lunar X Prize contestant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER), NASA: <\/strong>Lunar prospector<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lunar Zebro, Delft University: <\/strong>Student-built rover<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seven Sisters, Space Industry Association of Australia: <\/strong>Nanosats to support the Artemis programme<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n\n\n\n

PHOTOS: INTUITIVE MACHINES X 2, NASA, N.P.O. LAVOCHKIN (WWW.LASPACE.RU<\/a>), ALL RIGHTS RESERVED., ISRO, ASTROBOTIC TECHNOLOGY, KOREA AEROSPACE RESEARCH INSTITUTE, ISPACE, JAXA, MASTEN SPACE SYSTEMS<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ALL IMAGES ARE ILLUSTRATIONS<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Moon is about to get busy, both in orbit and on the surface<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":30052,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ub_ctt_via":"","purple_page_number":"40","purple_custom_meta_purple_page_number":"40","purple_seq_number":"1","purple_custom_meta_purple_seq_number":"1","purple_source_article":"article_40-1.xml","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_article":"article_40-1.xml","purple_source_issue":"April-2022","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_issue":"April-2022","purple_external_id":"April-2022-40-1","purple_custom_meta_purple_external_id":"April-2022-40-1","purple_issue_code":"|0000086551||","purple_custom_meta_purple_issue_code":"|0000086551||","purple_android_product":"com.im.skyatnight.203","purple_custom_meta_purple_android_product":"com.im.skyatnight.203","purple_ios_product":"com.im.skyatnight.203","purple_custom_meta_purple_ios_product":"com.im.skyatnight.203","purple_web_product":"","purple_custom_meta_purple_web_product":"","purple_publication_id":"075fab74-0a21-4201-866a-899d6c41c40c","purple_migrated":"","kt_blocks_editor_width":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[14],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/03\/a6a22881-94b4-4425-8698-9e4ac2ec9ea7.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"4","apple_news_title":""},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/03\/a6a22881-94b4-4425-8698-9e4ac2ec9ea7.jpg",1103,828,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/03\/a6a22881-94b4-4425-8698-9e4ac2ec9ea7-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/03\/a6a22881-94b4-4425-8698-9e4ac2ec9ea7-300x225.jpg",300,225,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/03\/a6a22881-94b4-4425-8698-9e4ac2ec9ea7-768x577.jpg",768,577,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/03\/a6a22881-94b4-4425-8698-9e4ac2ec9ea7-1024x769.jpg",800,601,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/03\/a6a22881-94b4-4425-8698-9e4ac2ec9ea7.jpg",1103,828,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/03\/a6a22881-94b4-4425-8698-9e4ac2ec9ea7.jpg",1103,828,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"The Moon is about to get busy, both in orbit and on the surface","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30062"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30062"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30062\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30726,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30062\/revisions\/30726"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30062"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}