SpaceIL lunar lander mission - 2019 |
SpaceIL lunar lander mission - 2019 |
Sep 13 2018, 06:21 AM
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Solar System Cartographer Group: Members Posts: 10227 Joined: 5-April 05 From: Canada Member No.: 227 |
I'm setting this up in preparation for the launch of SpaceIL's lunar mission, probably early next year. They have arranged a rideshare with Spaceflight Industries on a Falcon 9 launch early in 2019. Earlier they were saying launch in December, land on the Moon in February, so now I assume the landing might be delayed until March. This mission was originally going to be part of the Google Lunar X Prize, but that of course is now gone. It might be rekindled with a different sponsor (though I doubt it).
SpaceIL is the first of the GLXP teams to actually make it to a launch. For what it's worth, I expect Astrobotic to fly as well, and I think Team Indus and PTScientists may also get off the ground. I'm hearing things about Moon Express which cause me to doubt its chances. More on landing sites shortly. Phil -------------------- ... because the Solar System ain't gonna map itself.
Also to be found posting similar content on https://mastodon.social/@PhilStooke Maps for download (free PDF: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/comm...Cartography.pdf NOTE: everything created by me which I post on UMSF is considered to be in the public domain (NOT CC, public domain) |
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Aug 26 2019, 09:54 PM
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Solar System Cartographer Group: Members Posts: 10227 Joined: 5-April 05 From: Canada Member No.: 227 |
I don't have the time or the desire to investigate tardigrade survival, but I get a sense that there is a bit of tardigrade worship going on around this story, and I am not referring to UMSF here but in the wider media. People are taking it rather for granted that they can survive mind-boggling temperature extremes. All I have done so far is look at the Wikipedia page on tardigrades, and it says that the wee critters can survive temperatures close to absolute zero or up to about 150 C, with citations I have not followed up on. However, the caveat is that they are apparently shown to survive these extremes for 'a few minutes'. The lunar night is not 1 K, but it is a lot longer than a few minutes, and the day would get hotter than 150 C for long periods. I don't think the radiation story is as clear-cut as is sometimes claimed either, particularly if we bring in cosmic rays. Mark me down as skeptical that our little friends have much chance of surviving prolonged exposure to the lunar environment.
Phil -------------------- ... because the Solar System ain't gonna map itself.
Also to be found posting similar content on https://mastodon.social/@PhilStooke Maps for download (free PDF: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/comm...Cartography.pdf NOTE: everything created by me which I post on UMSF is considered to be in the public domain (NOT CC, public domain) |
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