SpaceIL lunar lander mission - 2019 |
SpaceIL lunar lander mission - 2019 |
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Solar System Cartographer ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 10194 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 PD: 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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Member ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 401 Joined: 5-January 07 From: Manchester England Member No.: 1563 ![]() |
This is soooo not my area of expertise, but a wee bit of googleing suggests that the lunar regolith has impressive insulating properties, and within half a meter of the surface the temperature is fairly constant at roughly -130 deg C to -150 deg c (eg, here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/artic...94576514004160) even at noon and midnight. Given that something hitting at approx 1km/sec will either smash to bits if it hits stone, or deeply bury if it hits deep, more yielding, regolith (and the lunar surface has little that isn't one or t' other)…. I'd (very tentatively) suggest that the much worshipped tardigrades are either slam dunk dead or in a situation where the effects of low temperature and radiation dmage accumulation on their survival are more likely relevant than the effects of high temperature.
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