The two instruments on the Lunar #Trailblazer spacecraft will work in tandem to generate high-resolution maps of the moon's #water. It should take between four and seven months to arrive in its final orbit https://phys.org/news/2025-02-lunar-trailblazer-blasts-moon.html

Early next month, #IM2 is targeting a touchdown at 84.6° south latitude, just 160 km from the #Moon’s south pole. It will deploy an #ice-mining drill and mass spectrometer, a miniaturized rover, and a unique “hopper” craft. Its first hop will reach a height of 20 m with two additional hops aiming to reach 50 m then 100 m. On its fourth and fifth hops, it will leap in and out of a permanently shadowed region inside a 20 m-deep #crater. https://www.astronomy.com/space-exploration/intuitive-machines-preps-im-2-mission-for-moon-launch-this-week

The proof of concept shows that at the current achievable flow rates of #CO2 and water, it is possible to meet #NASA’s 16-month deadline for refueling #rockets on #Mars . It can be scaled further to meet tighter rocket refueling deadlines. The use of Martian nighttime temperatures for heat exchange can potentially reduce the dependence on power-hungry cryogenic methods for gas liquefaction. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9118664

"As a rule of thumb, rockets launched from Earth must burn ~25 kg of propellant to transport one kg of payload, whereas rockets launched from the Moon would burn only ~4 kg of propellant to transport one kg of payload." https://arstechnica.com/science/2025/02/turning-the-moon-into-a-fuel-depot-will-take-a-lot-of-power

The parameters of the #NASA lunar initiative have yet to be defined precisely. What is the basic purpose ? How many round trips by crew per year ? How many cargo landings? Will the cargo delivery spacecraft be reusable ? Will descent and ascent vehicles be one and the same ? What are masses of ascent and descent vehicles ? How many landing sites will be used ? What activities are planned for the crew on the surface? What is the ROI of #ISPP ? https://spj.science.org/doi/10.34133/space.0188

#Lunar #ISPP (in situ #propellant production) : 3 billion metric tons of water ice are estimated at each pole*. Delivery from the #Moon could be done by #electromagnetic launcher (#EML)** for in-space refueling https://www.factoriesinspace.com/propellant-refilling

*https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0094576500000783
**https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0094576523001066

#ChangE8 2028 : “Through data sharing and task delegation, the #robots will work together like a team, achieving objectives that would be impossible for independent robots to complete” https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3296324/change-8-moon-mission-first-get-robotic-boost-chinas-private-sector

#BlueOrigin : "we're going to try to make the expendable upper stage so #cheap to manufacture that a reusable stage can never compete with it. And we're going to try to make the #reusable stage so operable that an expendable stage can never compete with it."

Now is the time when the real movement, the kind of golden age of #space , is going to happen. The next big step is in situ resource development https://arstechnica.com/features/2025/01/after-the-success-of-new-glenn-blue-origin-to-focus-on-launching-frequently/

@GalacticTactic There's a bunch of colonization mods, for stuff like inflatable bases and modular exploration vehicles that can "live off land" (via #ISRU modules). I really, really wanted to use it around the Kerbol system, but I couldn't even get a small base set up next to the desert runway launchpad to work - I set up the minimum amount of buildings required to do basic experiments, only to watch them slide around and drift into air, and eventually explode.

#SpaceAgencies and private companies are planning bases, scientific experiments and mining operations on the #moon . Whatever the #ArtemisAccords decide, Russia and China are not about to sign up.
A second effort at lunar governance is emerging at #Copuos*. Its new working group is mulling rules on the extraction of natural resources from celestial bodies https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/mar/25/bases-experiments-mining-the-race-to-protect-the-surface-of-the-moon

* https://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/copuos/index.html

A 100kg #robot will prepare a working area on the lunar surface and transfer the parts from the lander and assemble them. All of #China’s planned #ChangE missions will be testing technologies to pave the way for Chinese #astronauts to land on the #moon before 2030 https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3251854/china-calls-developers-change-8-mission-make-and-assemble-moon-bricks

#Guardian 8 Dec 2023 The #Peregrine mission is the first in a fleet of private #spacecraft bound for the #moon in the next few years. Future landers aim to drill for ice and other materials, potentially iron and rare earths, which are of interest to mining firms. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/dec/08/nasa-hands-over-control-as-new-era-of-moon-missions-readies-for-lift-off

To safely bring the #ISS back to #Earth, a dedicated #spacecraft will have to be built, the total cost of which is estimated at $1 billion over the course of this decade.
A #SpacePolicy expert suggested the opposite idea: #raising the #ISS to a stable #orbit at the end of its useful life https://english.elpais.com/science-tech/2023-11-20/25-years-of-the-international-space-station-what-next-for-a-beacon-of-peaceful-international-scientific-collaboration.html

"If #China gets there first, they will get to set precedent that’s based on their values and their economic system" . China has now landed #spacecraft on the #lunar surface successfully three times this century, while the #US has not landed there since #Apollo 17 https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/11/13/china-nasa-moon-landing-first