THE WORLD IS FALLING APARt fast. What isn’t being blown up with cluster-bombs and other munitions is being destroyed by extremely poor policy decisions. We, as a generation, will have a lot of explaining to do for our prodigy from our graves. It’s no wonder those of means are again looking up in space and to the stars for possible relief from human failings and failures.
In recent months, there has been a noticeable uptick in space travel, or attempts at it, after a veritable decades’-long hiatus. Private or civilian money, such as Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic, have funded innovative projects such as SpaceX’s Mars transportation infrastructure, SpaceX’s reusable launch system development, and Virgin Galactic’s Galactic 01, the first successful commercial space tourism flight which was completed in June. The aim of all these undertakings is, of course, commercial.
At the other end of the spectrum, however, is public investment in space exploration. After nearly half a century, Russia is hoping to pick up where the old U.S.S.R. left off, and make a soft Soyuz 2.1v rocket landing on the moon’s south pole (a first) to determine just how much water ice, if any, may be there. It is believed the moon is 100 times drier than the Sahara, but NASA maps from 2018 showed water ice which the agency was able to confirm in 2020, at least in areas where there is some sunlight. If water ice is there, it could be used to extract fuel and oxygen as well as be a life-sustaining source of drinking water.
The Russian rocket and lunar lander Luna 25 took off on 8/10/23, after a two-year delay which was probably as much for political reasons as technical ones, a month after India launched its Chandrayaan-3 lunar lander and rover.
India touched down on the moon’s south pole on 8/23/23. (Footage here.) The Indian plan was to run experiments for a couple of weeks, while the Russian undertaking was expected to be for a year. Unfortunately, during landing, the Russian craft crashed on the lunar surface on 8/19/23.
India has also launched a spacecraft, the Aditya-L, dedicated to studying the Sun. Among other things, it will scientifically study the photosphere, chromosphere, and the Sun’s corona. It should provide data about solar flares and weather in space. (My kinda research, given I’m more concerned about violent solar flare activity affecting the Earth than so-called ‘climate change.’)
China has also hailed a number of successful space missions in 2023 so far, including a fifth crew flight to the Tiangong space station in May. (The sixth is scheduled for next month.) The goal for some time has been to establish a permanent moon base, and it appears South Africa has formally joined China in that quest. The two nations signed a Memorandum of Understanding between their respective space agencies concerning what is known as the International Lunar Research Station. Beijing wants to land astronauts on the lunar surface by 2030. They like to play the long game, so they will surely succeed.
Japan, too, launched a rocket headed for the moon with a robotic lander and X-ray astronomy telescope on 9/8/23. The X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission, or XRISM, will measure the speed and composition of what lies between galaxies. This should help scientists solve the mystery of how celestial bodies were formed as well as the ultimate puzzle of how the universe itself was created.
It is also hoped the Japanese mission will aid scientists in understanding black holes and hot plasma in space and time. The lander won’t surface until early next year as “pinpoint landing technology” is being developed.
Not every Asian space undertaking has been successful of late, however. Japan had to abort an H3 rocket launch in February, and while the liftoff a month later was successful, the rocket had to be destroyed after its second stage missed proper ignition. Still, failures are teachable moments, and the Japanese are surely using what they have learned to achieve their ultimate goal of getting an astronaut on the surface of the moon.
The former U.S.S.R., the U.S., China, and now, India, are the only nations to have successfully landed on the lunar surface. Only China and India have done so in the 21st century.
As an American, it’s hard to not notice we seem to be falling behind in the space race, at least the public, and supposedly strictly civilian one.
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