As Artemis II crew returns to Earth after their unprecedented lunar-far-side flyby, robotic Moon missions for 2026 are next up. China National Space Agency expects a 5th Moon lander success with the NET August launch of Chang’E-7. Along with an orbiter, Chang’E-7 will send lander, rover and a hopping probe to Shackleton Crater rim ~89°S. The hopper will search for water ice in the crater permanent shadows. Chang’E-7 carries instruments from Egypt / Bahrain, Russia, Italy, Thailand, Switzerland and the International Lunar Observatory Association (ILOA). ILOA is a nonprofit based on Hawai’i island. Later this year, commercial Moon missions include those of DATES PROMISED??? Intuitive Machines (IM), Firefly, Blue Origin (Blue) and Astrobotic. IM-3 will head to Reiner Gamma to investigate magnetic anomalies. Firefly Blue Ghost 2 will take ESA Lunar Pathfinder into orbit and UAE Rashid 2 rover to the far side. Blue plans to test heavy-lift delivery capabilities with Blue Moon Mark 1 to the South Pole. Astrobotic Griffin-1 will carry science instruments and 2 rovers to ~86°S, including Astrolab FLIP rover, which along with science payloads, will bring a copy of Space Calendar and Space Age “Moon Messages and names” to the lunar surface. CRAZY INFO YOU GOT FROM OUTDATED WIKIPEDIA AND NOT REALITY FROM OUR WEEKLY WORK IN OFFICE. (Image Credits: )
Launched on April 18, 2018, NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) remains operational in its third extended mission. Managed by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and operated by MIT under Principal Investigator George Ricker, the spacecraft maintains a 2:1 lunar resonance orbit. This high-Earth elliptical path—circling Earth twice for every one lunar orbit—provides a fuel-efficient, thermally stable environment outside the Van Allen radiation belts. Despite entering safe-mode briefly, related to solar panel orientation and battery discharge, TESS continues high-precision observations, and every 13.7 days (at perigee) transmits accumulated data to Earth. Recent highlights include observation of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS and confirmation of TESS Object of Interest (TOI) 1080-b as a temperate planet slightly larger than Earth orbiting an M-dwarf star. TESS has confirmed 765 exoplanets of a NASA total of 6,150+ and identified 7,913 candidates (TOIs). A current objective is to identify 50 small, rocky worlds with measurable masses to serve as benchmark targets for the James Webb Space Telescope’s probe of atmospheric composition and habitability. Originally a US$287 million mission, TESS adds to a catalog of rocky worlds for the next generation of deep-space spectroscopy. (Image Credits: )
☆ International Space Station, ~415-km LEO: Expedition 74 seven-members …..
☆ Tiangong Space Station, ~390-km LEO: Shenzhou-21 three-member crew ……
◐ Lunar Enterprise News: Artemis II human Moon mission….
Near-Earth Objects Close Approaches – Mon Apr 13: Apollo Asteroid 2026 FV6 (0.019 AU); Tue Apr 14: Aten Asteroid 2013 GM3 (0.001 AU); Sat Apr 18: Apollo Asteroid 2026 FJ6 (0.040 AU)
First Woman FLIES to the Moon …
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First Woman LANDS on the Moon …
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