First private company on the moon
ispace
Low Earth orbit has long ceased to be a prerogative
In the new year, a new milestone awaits private astronautics:the beginning of the exploration of deep space objects. Back in December 2022, the SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle launched into orbit and sent the private spacecraft of the Hakuto-R mission of the Japanese company ispace to the Moon.
It must reach Earth's natural satellite atwithin four months and with the help of the lunar descent module Hakuto-R Misson 1, land two research rovers on the Moon at once: the Rashid rover developed in the UAE and the spherical research module from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) - Sora-Q.
The mission of the Japanese ship is significantly differentfrom the American Orion. Ispace chose a longer trajectory for its flight, which requires less energy to overcome. In about four months, the ship will move away from the Earth to a distance of about 1.6 million km (remember, the Moon is about 400 thousand km).
For most of the route the ship will move alongballistic trajectory under the influence of gravity of the Sun and Moon, and only at the last stage will the engines be activated, which will correct the flight and launch the module into the desired orbit. The mission aims to land in the Atlas crater in the northeastern part of the visible side of the Moon.
Lander Hakuto-R Misson 1. Video: ispace
American competitors
ispace has rivals that can competefor the title of the first private company on the Earth's natural satellite. At approximately the same time as Hakuto-R, the Peregrine and Nova-C landers from the American companies Astrobotic and Intuitive Machines, respectively, should reach the lunar surface.
Both flights are part of a NASA-funded programto deliver commercial payloads to the Moon, spacecraft must bring scientific instruments to explore the moon. Although both Peregrine and Nova-C are still on Earth and will only be sent into space if all goes according to plan in the first quarter of 2023, they do have a chance to overtake the Japanese module as they will fly in a straight trajectory and reach to the moon in just a few days.
Artist's illustration of the Peregrine module. Image: Astrobotic
Peregrine (translated from English as “Peregrine Falcon”) -a small space module that can deliver up to 265 kg of payload to the Moon. It is controlled by five jet engines, which provide insertion into lunar orbit, correction and landing on the surface of the satellite. The lander is not equipped with heaters, so it is expected to work only until the end of the lunar day and fail on the first night, which lasts 14 days on the Earth's satellite.
The Sapsan was supposed to go to the moon back in 2021, but the flight was delayed due to problems with the readiness of the new Vulcan Centaur launch vehicle, which should put it into Earth orbit.
Artistic illustration of the Nova-C module. Image: Intuitive Machines
Nova-C - smaller than Sapsan.Its maximum payload does not exceed 100 kg. It is equipped with a main engine called VR900, which uses methane and liquid oxygen. Unlike Astrobotic's higher payload module, this lander is capable of moving after the initial landing on the Moon. It can perform vertical take-off, cruise and re-landing.
In the future, Nova-C can be refueledfuel mined on the moon and used for local travel, but so far, like its counterpart, it will only work for one lunar day. The Falcon 9 launch vehicle from SpaceX, which has already proven its effectiveness, should launch the ship into Earth orbit.
"Luna-25"
Back to lunar exploration next yearplans and Roskosmos. According to the latest data, the launch of the Luna-25 automatic interplanetary station has been postponed to June 2023. The first domestic lunar mission in more than 40 years (the last Soviet apparatus was sent in 1976) is aimed at exploring the polar latitudes of a natural satellite of the Earth and conducting reconnaissance to create a base in the future.
"Luna-25" will have to perform a series of scientificresearch, but the main tasks are practical. They are associated with the possibility of development and settlement of the satellite in the future. For example, the station will look for natural resources that can be used to supply the base, analyze the composition of regoliths, the effects of dust, radiation and micrometeorites, and the ability to survive a moonlit night.
The descent probe will use technologylanding, worked out by previous Soviet missions. It will move in a low polar orbit around the Moon, and then make a deceleration and vertical descent. But unlike its predecessors, Luna-25 is aimed at the polar region of the Moon near 70° latitude. According to recent scientific studies carried out by scientists from different countries, these areas are the most promising in terms of resource and water extraction.
Lander model of the Luna 25 mission on display in Paris. Image: Pline, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
The Luna 25 mission has been repeatedly postponed,because the individual components of the descent vehicle were not ready or did not cope with the tests. In September 2022, Roskosmos explained the delay as “a mismatch between the characteristics of the Doppler velocity and range meter and the requirements of the terms of reference.” Later, the head of the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences announced that all improvements should be completed by the summer of 2023. The Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket will have to put the automatic space station into orbit.
Moon explorers
Three new lunar rovers should go totravel on the surface of the Earth's satellite in 2023. The Arab Rashid rover and the Japanese Sora-Q are already flying to the Moon, and a second attempt to launch the first Indian lunar rover, Chandrayaan-3, is planned for the summer. In 2019, during a similar mission, Chandrayaan-2, a glitch occurred that prevented a soft landing and led to the failure of the lunar rover.
The Rashid rover is the first Arabic module forlunar exploration. It is expected to operate for two lunar days (each lasting 14 Earth days). It is designed to withstand the harsh night conditions of the Earth's satellite.
The main task of the rover is to investigate the behaviorplasma on the lunar surface and the effect of regolith dust on different surfaces. Razor-sharp particles can stick to spacesuits and equipment and cause them to erode, causing problems for astronauts.
Sora-Q is a miniature robot designeda Japanese toy company. It weighs about 255g and is only 8cm in diameter. The device is made from a combination of aluminum and plastic that can withstand extreme temperature changes on the Moon.
After the module lands, Sora-Q will roll out of the lander in the form of a ball. After which it transforms and turns into a controlled lunar rover.
Sora-Q is equipped with a camera to capture the surrounding area. It is expected that he will explore the vicinity of the landing site and send data to Earth.
The lunar rover of the Chandrayaan-3 mission will be completeanalogue of the six-wheeled Pragyan rover that crashed during the landing of the Chandrayaan-2 mission. Like its predecessor, it should land close to the south pole of the moon.
It is the largest of the three moon rovers thatwill start operating in 2023. Its mass is about 27 kg, and its dimensions are from 0.7 to 0.9 m. It will move along the lunar surface at a speed of 1 cm per second, analyzing the surface and sending three-dimensional images obtained from two cameras to Earth. The rover is expected to operate on the Moon for up to 14 days.
Lunar space tourism
Eight space tourists are set to travel tonext year on the first tourist trip around the Moon, on the Starship spacecraft from SpaceX. During the six-day mission, they will have to reach the Earth's satellite, fly around it and return to Earth.
The captain of the first tourist ship will beYusaku Maezawa is a Japanese billionaire and entrepreneur. He finances the entire flight and invited along with him eight passengers from among the representatives of creative professions. Among them, for example, American DJ Steve Aoki, South Korean singer and model Thap, Czech choreographer and performer Yemi Akiniemi Dele and others. As planned by Maezawa, the trip should inspire the participants to new creative projects.
During the flight, there will also beone or two astronauts and a few SpaceX pilots. If all goes well, this could be the beginning of a new era in space tourism. True, it is noted that the flight time depends on how quickly the Starship passes the tests and can be shifted to a later time.
Artistic illustration of the Dear Moon tourist flight around the Moon on the Starship. Image: Dear Moon, SpaceX
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