NewSpace International - July 2018 www.newspaceinternational.com16

The Moon has long captured the collective consciousness of humankind. Orbiting the Earthsome 384,400km away, we learnt to gaze up to the Moon as a symbol of everything that mightone day be possible. That day is finally here; organisations from across the world are developingoptions for space exploration, with Moon colonization a logical first step…

#LUNAR #MOON #SETTLEMENT

Exploring the Earth’s eighth continent

The Moon has hovered above the Earth for some 4.5billion years, in sight but out of reach until relativelyrecently. Between the mid-1960s and mid-1970s, 65Moon landings were recorded, and in July 1969,humankind first set foot on the Moon with the Apollo 11mission. However, manned Moon landing missionsended in 1976, and we haven’t been back since.

Globally, interest in space exploration never waned,but landing on the Moon opened a lot of eyes to thepossibilities of space beyond the Moon. Suddenly,people were talking about exploring Mars and Venus ina very real way, and extremely expensive missions tothe Moon with (at the time) limited benefits made furthermanned lunar exploration unfavourable.

Unmanned lunar missions have continued over thedecades since, with Japan, China, India, the EuropeanSpace Agency (ESA) and NASA all continuing lunarresearch. The first commercial mission to the Moon wasaccomplished in 2014 by the Manfred Memorial MoonMission (4M), led by LuxSpace, wherein a ChineseChang’e 5-T1 test spacecraft completed a Moon flyby.

Of course, a lot has changed since the 1970s.Technology has come on in leaps and bounds, and newdevelopments have once again peaked interest in thepossibilities of the Moon. Interest in lunar colonization,

in particular, spiked in 2009 with the discovery of waterby the Moon Minerology Mapper (M3) on the IndianSpace Research Organisation’s (ISRO) Chandrayaan-1.It had long been suspected that water would eventuallybe found on the Moon, and these findings backed upthe belief that water would be located not only inminerals, but scattered throughout the surface, and,potentially, in blocks or sheets of ice beneath the surface.Later in 2009, NASA announced that its LCROSS missionhad discovered large quantities of water ice on the Moonaround the LCROSS impact site at Cabeus. Othersubstances, including hydrocarbons, methane andammonia, were also found at the site.

“The Moon is en vogue once more, with privatecompanies, and national space agencies all turning theirattention to the Moon,” Kate Arkless Gray, Head ofCommunications at NewSpace company PTScientists,told NewSpace International. “We’ve seen the industryfocus shift from Mars back to the Moon, and manypeople realise that the Moon is the ideal test-bed formissions further into the solar system. The (now defunct)Google lunar XPRIZE was the catalyst for a number ofspace start-ups to form, and even though the originalprize pot is no longer on offer, many of those companies– including ours – have continued with their work. We

really believe that the time has come forcommercial and public organisations to worktogether on lunar missions, and we’re reallyexcited to be part of making this vision a reality.”

Is lunar colonization even possible?Dreams of living on the Moon are nothing new.While we successfully landed on the Moonalmost 50 years ago, we’ve never been readyto consider colonization before. In this era ofNewSpace exploration, of entrepreneurs likeElon Musk, Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos,lunar colonization may now actually be withingrasp.

PTScientists certainly believe in the futureof lunar landings, telling NewSpaceInternational: “At PTScientists we prefer to talkabout ‘settlement’ rather than ‘colonisation,’which comes with some rather negativeconnotations,” noted Kate Arkless Gray ofPTScientists. “It is undoubtedly possible, giventhe right time and investment in technology; thequestion is whether it is something that wedesire? It makes a lot of sense for us to test ourtechnologies, communications, habitats etc onthe Moon, but once we get to the point ofsettling, I think we’ll already be looking furtherinto space, and reaching for our next goal – bethat Mars, or somewhere else.”

But why the Moon? Space is a big place,larger than most of us can possibly

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comprehend, so it’s only natural that we would considercolonizing something we regard as ‘safe’ and ‘local,’ aplanetary body we can actually see from Earth with thenaked eye. There are also certain advantages that resultfrom the Moon’s close proximity to Earth that wouldmake it beneficial for colonization:

• The Moon is the closest celestial body to theEarth, and the most well-explored to date; assuch, we have a great deal of data on the Moon’sclimate, environment, make-up, and seasonalchanges, which would greatly benefit planningfor a colony.

• The proximity of the Moon makes it the mostcost-effective site for a first attempt at off-world colonization for fuel and power costs.

• The (relatively) short transit time between theMoon and the Earth enables faster resupplymissions, quicker evacuation, and more flexibility.

• A lunar base would be an ideal space explorationoutpost; the lower gravity results in a lowerrequired escape velocity for launch vehicles, andthus less propellent is required.

• Communications would be near real-time, sincethe communication delay between the Earth andthe Moon is less than three seconds.

• Unlike other celestial bodies, the Earth is in clearvisible sight of the Moon; psychologists haveasserted that this ‘closeness’ would be beneficialto the settlers’ peace of mind.

PTScientists’ Kate Arkless Gray elaborated further: “It’sa simple matter of its proximity to Earth, which makeseverything so much easier. In an emergency, we couldbe back on Earth in a number of days, whereas for Marsyou’re talking months. That’s what makes it the idealtesting ground – we can send additional supplies orbring people back if something were to go wrong, butwith a settlement on Mars or further afield you’d haveto be prepared to survive for much longer withoutcontact from Earth. Telemedicine becomes an issue thefurther away from Earth you are – you couldn’t have asurgeon operating remotely on you if you were on Marsbecause the delay is just too big!” She continued: “TheMoon gives us an opportunity to test our skills andresources, practice in-situ resource utilisation and getused to living on another celestial body, while still beinga ‘safe-distance’ from home. It’s bit like camping in theback garden as a child – you could get used to living ina tent, but if you really needed something you couldalways run back into the house to get it!”

Of course, it’s not all smooth sailing. Colonizationbrings with it a whole host of challenges, whether we’retalking about the Moon, Mars, or beyond. Establishingthe first ever off-world colony will be an immense testof humankind, and will include challenges unique to theMoon itself:

• Due to the Moon’s rotation, each moon day is 28.5days long, and temperatures reach about 100°C;each Moon night, meanwhile, sees temperaturesdrop to around “178°C. A colony would require astructure to withstand these temperaturechanges. There are, however, areas around thepoles which receive near-constant sunlight; suchareas could be used to build a solar power grid.

• The moon is very low in certain vital elementsincluding nitrogen, carbon and hydrogen. Suchelements would need to be imported, probablyat great cost, to support life and industrialprocesses, and then diligently recycled.

• Gravity, at one sixth of that experienced on Earth,may not be strong enough to prevent detrimentalhuman health effects in the medium and longterms. We already know that to experienceweightlessness over month-long periods causesdeterioration of physiological systems, includingloss of bone and muscle mass, and a depressedimmune system.

• The Moon’s atmosphere is quite insubstantial,leaving the surface exposed to marked amountsof interplanetary radiation. Proton exposure fromsolar wind, health threats from cosmic rays, andsolar flares, are all significant challenges forhuman settlement. The insubstantial atmospherealso reduces protection from meteors.

• Moon dust, an abrasive glassy material formedfrom micrometeorites, is abundant, sticking toeverything; damage to equipment is a very realthreat. The moon dust is also ionized, which cancause respiratory problems if inhaled.

• The long lunar days and nights, extremetemperature variation, solar flares, nitrogen-poorsoil and lack of insects for pollination is also aproblem for growing crops. Plants would needto be grown in sealed containers and providingelectric lighting to compensate for the lunar daysand nights would be problematic in terms ofenergy consumption.

• Political and national interests in colonizationcould prove tricky, and long-term negotiation isvital for the future of any potential colony.

• Finally, mental health challenges would also bekey to success. Living inside a sealed colony, faraway from many family and friends, in suchdifferent conditions to Earth, would render asignificant challenge for most people.

Meanwhile, addressing the challenges of lunarcolonization, the International Institute of SpaceCommerce (IISC), an open source think tank on theeconomics and commerce of space, brought together20 of the world’s leading thinkers on spaceflight andasked if a commercial settlement on the Moon wouldbe possible. They found that a private settlement on theMoon is surprisingly feasible, and even cost-effective,and offers the best chance of success for a return to

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The Moon gives us an opportunityto test our skills and resources,

practice in-situ resource utilisationand get used to living on anothercelestial body, while still being a

‘safe-distance’ from home

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the Moon – and by definition, settlement beyond. Theexecutive summary of the Lunar Economic Action Plan(LEAP) study can be viewed at https://bit.ly/2r7Kgj2.

The study suggests that technology is not the issue,but rather economics. By leveraging the strengths ofprivate industry and private capital, via the use of PublicPrivate Partnerships (PPPs) and Mega Funds, theprovision of public science and exploration of the Mooncan be both enhanced and ensured.

“Engineers and mission designers have long knownthat the Moon would be the best outpost from Earthfrom which we could access the cosmos,” said RobAlexander, IISC Executive Director. “The argument ‘we’vebeen there before’ is not a good enough reason to justifyignoring the Moon in our society’s exploration anddevelopment. The LEAP is intended to further justify thisstrategy economically, as well as outlining the policyneeds that we should follow for the benefit of ourexpanding, beyond just a global economy. We’repleased that the world’s major governments are startingto take notice, and we should be seeing the benefitswithin the next 10 years.”

“Any return to the Moon would take advantage ofboth new technologies and the new economics of thespace age. The LEAP was created to examine thispossibility,” added IISC Board Member Chris Stott. “Whatis exciting is that we have the technology for asettlement on the Moon, that is not an issue. We canmake this happen. What needs to be considered is theeconomics, the business plan, and the regulatory issuesthat would arise. But all this is solvable.”

All the signs point to the idea that yes, we may wellbe ready to embark on the first off-world colonization.Indeed, it seems like anyone who is anyone is getting inon the action…

NASA embarks on variety of lunar missionsNASA has a huge history of lunar exploration, includinglanding the first man on the Moon in 1969. Today, theorganisation continues to forge ahead with equallyambitious plans.

In December 2017, President Donald Trump gaveNASA new direction, instructing the organisation to workwith international and commercial partners to refocusexploration efforts on the Moon, with the eventual goalof going to Mars and beyond: “The directive I am signingtoday will refocus America’s space program on humanexploration and discovery. It marks a first step inreturning American astronauts to the Moon for the firsttime since 1972, for long-term exploration and use. Thistime, we will not only plant our flag and leave ourfootprints - we will establish a foundation for an eventualmission to Mars, and perhaps someday, worlds beyond.”

NASA has since announced the following objectivesfor lunar exploration:

• Establish a long-term presence in the vicinity ofand on the Moon, realizing science and humanexploration advancement, while also enablingother national and commercial goals.

• Conduct the un-crewed SLS/Orion first flight in2020 to the lunar vicinity.

Image: PTScientists

Artist’s rendering PTScientists’ Audi Lunar Quattro (ALQ) on the moon

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Artist’s rendering of Orion spacecraft

Image: NASA

Photo: NASA

• Conduct a crewed flight around the Moon in 2023.• Establish a human-tended lunar orbiting platform

for crews to visit from Earth, to transit to and fromthe lunar surface, and to depart to and return fromMars.

• Develop the Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway that,at a minimum:o Emplaces a power-propulsion

(communications) element around theMoon by 2022. The development of thisfirst strategic element will incorporateinnovative procurement and partneringstrategies, capitalize on US commercialcommunication satellite capabilities,demonstrate high power solar electricpropulsion technology, and provide thecritical functionality for the rest of thecislunar orbital platform.

o Performs science and technologyactivities, for example, lunar sample returnand the operation of lunar robotic and in-space systems.

• Orchestrate a lunar robotics campaign with afocus on growing a commercial base ofpartnerships and activity that can support USscience, technology and exploration objectives.o Support a small commercial lander

initiative with an initial strategic presenceon the Moon no later than 2020.

o Develop a mid-to-large scale landerinitiative working toward human-ratedlander. This initiative will focus on enablingcommercial and internationalpartnerships.

o Support an early science and technologyinitiative that includes lunar CubeSats, aVirtual Lunar Institute and other activities.

• Further enable and nurture entrepreneurial andcommercial market forces that will define long-term human exploration and exploitation of thelunar surface.

• Aggressively characterize lunar resources so thattheir potential future exploitation can beaddressed.

The Lunar Orbital Platform-GatewayThe Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway, which NASA plansto develop with US industry and International SpaceStation (ISS) partners, is part of the fiscal year 2019budget proposal. Construction is expected to start in the2020s. The platform will consist of a power andpropulsion element and habitation, logistics and airlockcapabilities. While specific technical and missioncapabilities and partnership opportunities are underconsideration, NASA plans to launch elements of thegateway on its Space Launch System (SLS) orcommercial rockets for assembly in space.

The power and propulsion element will be the initialcomponent of the gateway and is targeted to launch in2022. Using advanced high-power solar electricpropulsion, the element will maintain the gateway’sposition and can move it between lunar orbits over itslifetime to maximize operations. In addition, the powerand propulsion element will provide high-rate andreliable communications for the gateway includingspace-to-Earth and space-to-lunar uplinks and

Crater Daedalus, situated on the far side of themoon, as seen from Apollo 11 in lunar orbit

Image: NASA

Artist’s rendering of SLS rocket

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downlinks, spacecraft-to-spacecraft crosslinks, andsupport for spacewalk communications. Finally, it canalso accommodate an optical communicationsdemonstration – using lasers to transfer large datapackages at faster rates than traditional radio frequencysystems. As part of NASA’s public-private partnership(PPP) work under Next Space Technologies forExploration Partnerships (NextSTEP), five companies –Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Orbital ATK, Sierra NevadaCorporation’s Space Systems, and Space Systems/Loral- are completing four-month studies on affordable waysto develop the power and propulsion element.

Habitation capabilities launching in 2023 will furtherenhance NASA’s abilities for science, exploration, andpartner use. Crew aboard the gateway will be able tolive and work in deep space for up to 30-60 days at atime and participate in a variety of deep spaceexploration and commercial activities in the vicinity ofthe Moon, including possible missions to the lunarsurface. NASA also wants to leverage the gateway forscientific investigations near and on the Moon, andanticipates that the gateway will support the technologymaturation and development of operating conceptsneeded for missions beyond the Earth and Moonsystem.

Adding an airlock to the gateway in the future wouldenable crew to conduct spacewalks, enable scienceactivities and accommodate docking of future elements.NASA is also planning to launch at least one logisticsmodule to the gateway, which will enable cargoresupply deliveries, additional scientific research andtechnology demonstrations and commercial use.

Following the commercial model that NASApioneered for ISS resupply, the agency plans to resupplythe gateway through commercial cargo missions.Visiting cargo spacecraft could remotely dock to thegateway between crewed missions.

A world-first launch systemExploration Mission-1 (EM-1) will be the first integratedunmanned test of NASA’s deep space explorationsystems: The SLS rocket, the Orion spacecraft, and theground systems at Kennedy Space Center in CapeCanaveral. Orion will launch on the ‘most powerful rocketin the world’ and fly farther than any spacecraft built forhumans has ever flown. It will travel 280,000 miles fromEarth over the course of the approximately three-weekmission and will stay in space longer than any ship forastronauts has without docking to a space station.

“This is a mission that truly will do what hasn’t beendone and learn what isn’t known,” said Mike Sarafin, EM-1 Mission Manager at NASA. “It will blaze a trail thatpeople will follow on the next Orion flight, pushing theedges of the envelope to prepare for that mission.”

The SLS rocket has been designed for missions

beyond low-Earth orbit (LEO) carrying crew or cargo tothe Moon and beyond. It will produce 8.8 million poundsof thrust during lift-off and ascent to loft a vehicleweighing nearly six million pounds to orbit. Propelledby a pair of five segment boosters and four RS-25engines, the rocket will reach the period of greatestatmospheric force within 90 seconds. After jettisoningthe boosters, service module panels, and launch abortsystem, the core stage engines will shut down and thecore stage will separate from the spacecraft.

As the spacecraft makes an orbit of Earth, it willdeploy solar arrays and the Interim Cryogenic PropulsionStage (ICPS) will give Orion the push needed to leaveEarth’s orbit and travel toward the Moon. From there,Orion will separate from the ICPS, which will deployseveral small satellites to perform experiments andtechnology demonstrations.

As Orion continues to the Moon, it will be propelledby a service module provided by the ESA, which willsupply the spacecraft’s main propulsion system andpower (as well as house air and water for astronauts onfuture missions). To talk with mission control in Houston,Orion will switch from NASA’s Tracking and Data RelaySatellites system to the Deep Space Network. The tripto the Moon will take several days, during which timeengineers will evaluate the spacecraft’s systems and,as needed, correct its trajectory. Orion will fly about 62miles above the surface of the Moon and use the Moon’sgravitational force to propel itself into a new deepretrograde orbit about 40,000 miles from the Moon. Itwill stay in that orbit for around six days to collect dataand allow mission controllers to assess the performanceof the spacecraft.

For its return trip to Earth, Orion will do another closeflyby that takes it within about 60 miles of the Moon’ssurface, and it will use another precisely-timed enginefiring of the European-provided service module inconjunction with the Moon’s gravity to accelerate backtoward Earth. Following a precision splashdown withineyesight of the recovery ship off the coast of Baja,California, Orion will be brought back home for furtherstudy.

With this first exploration mission due for launch inJune 2020, NASA is leading the next steps of humanexploration into deep space where astronauts will buildand test the systems near the Moon required for lunarsurface missions and exploration to other destinationsfarther from Earth, including Mars. The SLS rocket willevolve from an initial configuration capable of sendingmore than 26 metric tons to the Moon, to a finalconfiguration that can send at least 45 metric tons. Thesecond flight will take crew on a different trajectoryusing a powerful exploration upper stage and testOrion’s critical systems with humans aboard. Together,Orion, SLS and the ground systems at Kennedy will beable to meet the most challenging crew and cargomission needs in deep space.

Commercial Lunar Payload ServicesIn April 2018, NASA released a draft Request forProposals for Commercial Lunar Payload Services(CLPS) to further expand efforts to support developmentand partnership opportunities on the Moon. NASAintends to award multiple contracts for these servicesthroughout the next decade, with contract missions tothe lunar surface expected to begin as early as 2019,

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The Moon is en vogue once more,with private companies, and

national space agencies all turningtheir attention to the Moon

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and with a company’s first delivery no later thanDecember 2021.

Among the objectives for the series of roboticcommercial delivery missions in 2019 is the delivery ofthe instrumentation suite from the former ResourceProspector mission concept.

“We conducted a thorough science and engineeringassessment of Resource Prospector and determined allfour instruments are at a high technology readinesslevel, are appropriate for science on the Moon, and willmake flights on future Commercial Lunar PayloadServices (CLPS) missions,” said Dennis Andrucyk, DeputyAssociate Administrator, Science Mission Directorate, atNASA. “These tools will provide important scientific dataon various landing sites, and will help NASA betterunderstand the lunar environment.”

The potential for each instrument varies with thepotential landing site, and most can be enhancedthrough mobility after landing. These projects include:

• Near Infrared Volatile Spectrometer Subsystem(NIRVSS) to monitor the Moon’s surface andidentify water and other volatiles.

• Neutron Spectrometer Subsystem (NSS) tosearch for hydrogen below the Moon’s surface.

• A regolith and ice drill.• Water Analysis and Volatile Extraction (WAVE)

instrument to accept and heat samples toquantify water and other volatiles extracted frombelow the surface.

NASA has also asked US industry how to bestadvance lander capabilities through its Lunar SurfaceTransport Capabilty request for information, whichclosed in April. NASA is assessing commercial interestin lander development to help mature plans for twoupcoming landers built through PPPs. NASA will reviewresponses to the request for information and use theinformation to develop a minimum 500kg lander, whichis targeted to launch in 2022. The agency’s two mid-sizelander demonstration missions will help NASAunderstand the requirements and systems needed fora human-class lander. The ongoing small payloaddelivery missions will provide important data on landingprecision, long-term survivability, guidance andnavigation for future landers. These landers will becapable of sample return, resource prospecting,demonstrating use of in-space resources, and this willreduce the risk when building landers for humans.

Developing new power systemsIn May, NASA and the Department of Energy’s NationalNuclear Security Administration (NNSA) successfullydemonstrated a new nuclear reactor power system, theKilopower Reactor Using Stirling Technology (KRUSTY),that could enable long-duration crewed missions to theMoon, Mars and beyond.

Kilopower is a small, lightweight fission powersystem capable of providing up to 10kW of electricalpower continuously for at least 10 years. Four Kilopowerunits would provide enough power to establish anoutpost. The prototype power system uses a solid, casturanium-235 reactor core. Passive sodium heat pipestransfer reactor heat to high-efficiency Stirling engines,which convert the heat to electricity.

According to Marc Gibson, Lead Kilopower Engineer,

the power system is ideal for the Moon, where powergeneration from sunlight is difficult because lunar nightsare equivalent to 14 days on Earth. “Kilopower gives usthe ability to do much higher power missions, and toexplore the shadowed craters of the Moon,” said Gibson.“When we start sending astronauts for long stays on theMoon and to other planets, that’s going to require a newclass of power that we’ve never needed before.”

According to David Poston, the Chief ReactorDesigner at NNSA’s Los Alamos National Laboratory, thepurpose of the recent experiment in Nevada was two-fold: To demonstrate that the system can createelectricity with fission power, and to show the system isstable and safe no matter what environment itencounters. ”We threw everything we could at thisreactor, in terms of nominal and off-normal operatingscenarios and KRUSTY passed with flying colours,” saidPoston.

The Kilopower team conducted the experiment infour phases. The first two phases, conducted withoutpower, confirmed that each component of the systembehaved as expected. During the third phase, the teamincreased power to heat the core incrementally beforemoving on to the final phase. The experiment culminatedwith a 28-hour, full-power test that simulated a mission,including reactor startup, ramp to full power, steadyoperation and shutdown. Throughout the experiment,the team simulated power reduction, failed engines andfailed heat pipes, showing that the system couldcontinue to operate and successfully handle multiplefailures. “We put the system through its paces,” saidGibson. “We understand the reactor very well, and thistest proved that the system works the way we designedit to work. No matter what environment we expose it to,the reactor performs very well.”

The Kilopower project is developing missionconcepts and performing additional risk reductionactivities to prepare for a possible future flightdemonstration. Such a demonstration could pave theway for future Kilopower systems that power humanoutposts on the Moon and Mars, including missions thatrely on in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) to produce localpropellants and other materials.

ESA eyes sustainable lunar explorationLike NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) is keennot to miss the boat on lunar exploration. As well as itsheavy involvement with the Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway, the ESA is focusing heavily on sustainabilityand ISRU.

While we are more than able to return to the Moonwith today’s technology, it remains extremely expensiveto do so. The ESA wants any return to the Moon to besustainable and based on partnerships with internationalspace agencies and industry. Instead of developing alander mission, the agency plans to purchase a ride ona commercial lander to deliver its research equipmentto the surface of the Moon and utilise existingcommunications services to control its hardware.

The ESA is also looking to invest in ISRU projects inthe name of sustainability, namely the extraction ofindigenous lunar materials into oxygen and water. Backin September 2017, the ESA invited service providers totake part in a one-year study to help shape its ISRUDemonstration Mission. The agency aims todemonstrate by 2025 that it is possible to produce water

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or oxygen on the Moon. The mission may also createthe opportunity to deliver scientific payloads directly tothe lunar surface. Thus, more recently in May, ESAannounced a Request for Information to identifysuppliers, service providers, partners and technicalsolutions for:

• Technology demonstrations for ISRU;• Lunar science payloads; and• Commercial services for payload delivery

(including lander), lunar communications andoperations.

PTScientists targets first private Moon landing missionPTScientists wants to bring down the cost of lunarexploration and science to enable a greater range ofparticipants from across the globe. As well as partneringwith established entities to collaborate on new spaceexploration projects, PTScientists is also developing itsown programme.

50 years after humans first stepped on the Moon,PTScientists plans to undertake the world’s first privatemission to land on the Moon. Indeed, in the second halfof 2019, ‘Mission to the Moon,’ a robotic spaceexploration mission, will return to the landing site ofApollo 17.

“We aim to create an ‘Apollo moment’ for a newgeneration. PTScientists believe that space belongs toeveryone and Mission to the Moon will make spaceaccessible for all to explore,” said PTScientists’ Founderand CEO, Robert Böhme. “The original trust and supportof Audi since 2015 and Vodafone since 2017 has beencritical to our success so far, and we are proud that moreiconic partners are joining us on our journey.”

Launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, Missionto the Moon will see the Autonomous Landing andNavigation Module (ALINA) transport a pair of lunarrovers developed by Audi to the Moon, live broadcastingusing chip technologies from Infineon, the first HDimages from NASA’s Apollo 17 landing site and theApollo 17 roving vehicle, last used in 1972. The Moon’sfirst 4G LTE network, developed by Vodafone andPTScientists, will communicate data from the Audi lunarquattro rovers to ALINA, which will then transmit all data

back to Earth. Vodafone’snetwork expertise will be usedto set up the Moon’s first 4Gnetwork, while partner Nokia,through Nokia Bell Labs, willcreate a space-grade UltraCompact Network that will bethe lightest ever developed -weighing less than 1kg.

Vodafone testing indicatesthat the base station shouldbe able to broadcast 4G usingthe 1800MHz band and sendback the first-ever live HDvideo feed of the Moon’ssurface, which will bebroadcast to a globalaudience via a deep space linkthat interconnects with thePTScientists server in theMission Control Centre inBerlin. A 4G network is highly

energy efficient compared to analogue radio, which willbe crucial to Mission to the Moon and is the first step tobuilding communications infrastructure for futuremissions.

“This is a crucial first step for sustainable explorationof the solar system,” said Böhme. “In order for humanityto leave the cradle of Earth, we need to developinfrastructures beyond our home planet. With Missionto the Moon we will establish and test the first elementsof a dedicated communications network on the Moon.The great thing about this LTE solution is that it savesso much power, and the less energy we use sendingdata, the more we have to do science!”

Developing ISRU technologiesIn April, PTScientists was selected as one of thecommercial companies taking part in ESA’s innovativestudy to develop potential lunar missions that couldmake use of resources found on the Moon. As part ofESA’s push towards ‘Space 4.0,’ where space is no longerthe sole preserve of government agencies, ESA hasselected six companies to work on potential missiondesigns.

The Lunar Mission Definition Study aims to find outwhether ESA could conduct a Moon mission by utilisinglunar services, such as payloads and delivery to theMoon, developed by commercial partners. Thesecapabilities are already being developed by the privatesector and should be available to ESA by the mid-2020s.

ESA has a strong interest in testing and maturing lunarISRU technologies to produce drinkable water orbreathable oxygen in support of future sustainablehuman Moon missions. The Lunar ISRU DemonstrationMission Definition Study is a step towards this and willalso help to foster commercial lunar services.

ESA hopes to realise a lunar mission that will testtechnology designed to extract useful elements fromresources found on the Moon by 2025, with an industrialprocurement budget below €250 million. In order torealise the mission according to budget and schedule,the entity plans to procure lunar service capabilities fromthe private sector for the ISRU payload delivery to theMoon surface, for lunar communications, and operations.

“Commercial partnerships are playing a growing role

Image: PTScientists

ALINA (back), AQL (front), and the PTScientists team

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in the exciting ESA vision for space exploration” saysDavid Parker, ESA Director of Human and RoboticExploration. “Actions underway already include newways to increase the use of the ISS. In future, procuringservices from industry alongside internationalcooperation could allow ESA to move faster in ourplanned exploration of the Moon.”

SSTL, Goonhilly and Astrobotic to support lunarexploration with roadmapIn April, Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL), GoonhillyEarth Station (GES) and Astrobotic announced anagreement to collaborate on delivering a roadmap ofinnovations that support organisations carrying outoperations on and around the Moon. The agreementformalises a long-term close working relationshipbetween the three organisations with the aim ofdeploying leading edge in-space communication relayservices.

Astrobotic will begin delivering a regular manifest ofunmanned payload flights to the Moon starting in 2020.Many of the companies, governments, universities, andother non-profit organisations operating payloads onAstrobotic’s Peregrine Lander will need sophisticatedcommunication relay services to reach until-nowprohibitive destinations on the Moon, including the farside. SSTL plans to service those needs with state-of-the-art data relay services. GES will receive SSTL’s datarelay and transmit data back to payload customers onEarth.

“Working with SSTL and Goonhilly to provide ourpayload customers with communication servicesanywhere on the lunar surface is perfectly aligned withour customer-centric approach,” said John Thornton,CEO of Astrobotic. “SSTL is a proven spaceflight pioneer,and we’re thrilled they’re choosing to partner withAstrobotic to help make their lunar plans a reality.”

“The complementary capabilities of Astrobotic,Goonhilly and SSTL allow us to provide a completemission package that supports and enables a diversityof lunar endeavours, both for commerce and publicsector initiatives,” commented Anita Bernie, Director ofExploration Missions at SSTL.

“The solutions resultingfrom this partnership willunderpin the development ofcommercial as well space-agency operations on andaround the moon,” said IanJones, CEO of GES. “We areconfident that with ourcombined expertise, resour-ces, and vision, together wewill perform a pivotal role inenabling organisations of allkinds to benefit from theopportunities in space and onthe moon.”

JAXA plans solo and jointexpeditionsThe Japan AerospaceExploration Agency (JAXA),like many others, is keen toexpand its space explorationachievements. The agency is

currently working on its Smart Lander for InvestigatingMoon (SLIM project, a lunar lander which will essentiallyland wherever desired, rather than wherever is easy. Themost recent reports state that launch is planned for 2021.

According to JAXA, the SLIM mission objectives are:

• Demonstration of the accurate lunar landingtechniques in a small explorer; and

• Acceleration of the study of the Moon and otherplanets using the lighter exploration system.

Upon descent to the Moon, SLIM will recognize lunarcraters by applying technology from facial recognitionsystems and will determine its current location fromobservation data collected by the Selenological andEngineering Explorer (SELENE) lunar orbiter mission.SLIM aims to soft land within 100m of its target location.

In other news, despite JAXA’s independent plans forlunar exploration, the organisation also reportedly plansto team up with the Indian Space Research Organisation(ISRO) to explore the Moon’s polar regions for water. TheMoon’s South pole is of particular interest since thecraters are in permanent shadow and may hold largereservoirs of ice.

“Both India and Japan have demonstration landingson the moon coming up,” said Hiroki Furihata at JAXA.“The next step for both of us is true exploration. If wecombine the strengths of both sides it can be a win-win.”

JAXA’s SLIM programme received a boost late in 2017,when its SELENE mission discovered a large cavemeasuring 50km long and 100m wide beneath the lunarsurface, which could be turned into an exploration basefor astronauts. The cave is reportedly structurally soundand may contain ice or water deposits that could be usedby human settlers.

The cave is believed to be a lava tube created duringvolcanic activity some 3.5 billion years ago. Such lavatubes have long been considered ideal candidatelocations for future lunar bases due to their stablethermal conditions and ability to protect people andequipment from micrometeorites and cosmic radiation.

Image: JAXA

Artist’s rendering of SLIM on the lunar surface

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China makes headway on far side of the MoonChina made a great leap in lunar exploration in May withthe launch of the Queqiao relay satellite to the far sideof the Moon. The satellite is being prepared forcommunication between the Earth and China’s Chang’e4, which is set to attempt the first landing on the far sideof the Moon later this year.

Chang’e 4 is expected to launch in November orDecember 2018 and will attempt the first soft landingon the far side of the Moon in history. Directcommunication between the landing site and Earth isimpossible since it always faces away from Earth, thusthe 400kg Queqiao satellite will relay data betweenChina’s rover and mission control. Queqiao is equippedwith a 4.2m antenna which will communicate withChang’e 4 over X-band and transmit data to Earth in S-band.

“There are plenty of successful missions withsuccessful landings on the near side of the moon,including Chang’e 3 in Mare Imbrium,” said Jun Huangfrom the Planetary Science Institute at the ChinaUniversity of Geosciences in a presentation at the Lunarand Planetary Science Conference in Texas. “Thismission has lasted for nearly five years, and it increasedour knowledge about the moon greatly, however, wedon’t have (until Chang’e 4) a mission dedicated to takingprecision measurements of the far side of the moon.”

The mission’s landing module will carry a lowfrequency radio spectrometer developed by Chinesescientists for astrophysics research. Meanwhile, aneutron and dosimetry instrument developed byGermany will measure radiation level data that couldbe useful in planning human exploration, study solaractivity, and gauging the underground water content inthe Von Karman crater, located in the Moon’s SouthPole-Aitken basin.

Chang’e 4 will feature a ground-penetrating radar tostudy geologic layers under the landing site, and a visibleand near-infrared spectrometer to gather data on soilcomposition. A Swedish-developed instrument willstudy the interaction between the solar wind and thelunar surface, which is not shielded by an atmosphere

from the bombardment of charged particles from theSun. Chang’e 4 will also deliver a student-designedcarrier containing potato seeds and silkworm eggs.University students and scientists will monitor thegrowth of the organisms, which will be housed inside achamber and fed natural light and nutrients.

One step closer to a hotel orbiting the MoonPeople have been talking about hotels on/orbiting themoon since before humankind even set foot therealmost 50 years ago; the Lunar Hilton has been in theplanning stages since 1967 and is yet to progress further.Today, we’re finally at a stage where hotels on the Moonor in orbit might be a possibility within our lifetime, ascommercial space tourism heats up.

Bigelow Aerospace is a serious contender in thespace tourism sector in its own right. Founded in 1998,Bigelow Aerospace develops and manufacturesexpandable space station modules, and is the onlycompany commercializing NASA expandable moduletechnologies. Bigelow aims to create a modular set ofspace habitats for creating standalone or expandingexisting space stations. The inflatable modules areexpected to be more durable than rigid modules due tothe use of Vectran, a material twice as strong as Kevlar,and because the flexible walls are theoretically morelikely to withstand micrometeoroid impacts better thanrigid walls.

Under the Genesis programme, Bigelow hasdemonstrated the viability of expandable habitattechnology in space. Genesis I, Bigelow’s first operationalspacecraft, was launched into orbit in 2006, whileGenesis II was launched in 2007; both remain in orbittoday and observations are ongoing. Meanwhile, in 2012,NASA signed a US$17.8 million contract with Bigelow todevelop the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module(BEAM), which was attached to the ISS in 2016, where itremains today.

Bigelow is currently developing the B330 standalonecommercial space station for operation in low Earth orbit(LEO), cislunar space and beyond. A single B330 iscomparable to one third of the current pressurized

Image: Bigelow Aerospace

Artist’s rendering of Bigelow B330 inflatable space station

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volume of the entire International Space Station. Bigelow Aerospace is developing two B330

commercial space station habitats that will be ready forlaunch any time after 2020. Indeed, at the end of 2017,Bigelow and United Launch Alliance (ULA) announcedplans to launch a B330 module on ULA’s Vulcan launchvehicle, placing it into low lunar orbit (LLO) by the endof 2022 to serve as a lunar depot.

“We are excited to work with ULA on this lunar depotproject. Our lunar depot plan is a strong complement toother plans intended to eventually put people on Mars.It will provide NASA and America with an exciting andfinancially practical success opportunity that can beaccomplished in the short term. This lunar depot couldbe deployed easily by 2022 to support the nation’s re-energized plans for returning to the Moon,” said RobertBigelow, President of Bigelow Aerospace. “Thiscommercial lunar depot would provide anchorage forsignificant lunar business development in addition tooffering NASA and other governments the Moon as anew exciting location to conduct long-term explorationand astronaut training.”

The B330 will launch to LEO on a Vulcan 562configuration rocket, the only commercial launch vehiclein development today with sufficient performance anda large enough payload fairing to carry the habitat. Oncein orbit, Bigelow will outfit the habitat and demonstrateit is working properly. Once fully-operational, ULA’sindustry-unique distributed lift capability will be usedto send the B330 to lunar orbit. Distributed lift will alsoutilize two more Vulcan ACES launches, each carrying35 tons of cryogenic propellant to LEO. In LEO, all thecryogenic propellant will be transferred to one of theAdvanced Cryogenic Evolved Stage (ACES). The nowfull ACES would then rendezvous with the B330 andperform multiple manoeuvres to deliver the B330 to itsfinal position in LLO.

This exciting new step towards creating a commercialspace station is one step closer to creating the first hotelto orbit the Moon. However, launch capabilities have along way to go…

Moon Express gears up for 2019 launchLaunched in 2010, Moon Express’s mission is to ‘redefinepossible’ by returning to the Moon and unlocking itsmysteries and resources for the benefit of humanity.

The company plans to offer commercial lunar robotictransportation and data services with a long-term goalof mining the Moon for resources, including rare Earthelements.

Moon Express was, notably, the first private companyto receive Federal Aviation Administration approval fora commercial space mission beyond Earth’s orbit underthe requirements of the Outer Space Treaty.

In July 2017, Moon Express and the International LunarObservatory Association (ILOA) announced acollaboration for the delivery of the first InternationalLunar Observatory to the South Pole (ILO-1) of the Moonin 2019. Moon Express has been contracted by ILOA todevelop advanced landing technologies supporting themission.

The ILO-1 astrophysical observatory and researchstation will be the world’s first instrument to image theMilky Way Galaxy and to conduct internationalastrophysical observations and communications fromthe lunar surface.

The ILO-1 will land on a ‘peak of eternal light’ at thelunar South Pole by a Moon Express robotic explorersystem. The primary landing site under analysisis Malapert Mountain, a 5km tall peak in the Aitken Basinregion that is bathed in sunlight most of the time andhas 24/7 direct line of sight to Earth as well as toShackleton Crater for communications. Moon Expresswill utilize the mission to explore the Moon’s South Polefor mineral resources and water.

“The primary goal of the International LunarObservatory is to expand human understanding of theGalaxy and Cosmos through observation andcommunications from our Moon,” said ILOA Founder andDirector, Steve Durst.

“We are extremely excited to work with Moon Expressto establish a presence on the Moon in 2019, the50th anniversary year of Apollo 11,” continued Durst.