HOUSTON — NASA's robotic missions to the moon with commercial partners will help create a new space economy, agency officials have said. But NASA shouldn't be the only buyer for commercial landers' services, one of those partner companies just stressed.
A representative from Intuitive Machines, which plans a 2021 landing under NASA's Commercial Lunar Services Payload (CLPS) program, said there's a risk of NASA's moon push going the same way as the Google Lunar X Prize, which offered $20 million to the first private team to put a robotic lander on the moon but ended up going unclaimed .
Other things to check out:
Cold Moon 2019: When is December's Full Moon - What is the meaning of the Cold Moon?
The coming full moon has been described as a Cold Moon – aptly named considering it comes in the coldest month. The Cold Moon – which is the 12th full moon of the year – will rise on December 12. The Cold Moon has several other names too, including the Full Cold Moon or the Full Long Night’s Moon.
The Farmers Almenac website explained: “During this month the winter cold fastens its grip, and nights are at their longest and darkest. It is also sometimes called the Moon before Yule.
Cosmic Deal: You Can See Saturn with the Moon on Black Friday (It's Free!) | Space
If the weather is clear in your area on Black Friday (Nov. 29), you will have an opportunity to see two of the most popular objects to look at through a telescope: the moon and Saturn .
On Thanksgiving evening, the moon will tango with Jupiter and Venus , and on Friday, the moon will pay the ringed planet a visit.
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It will soon be time to bid a fond adieu to the showpiece of the solar system, the magnificent ringed planet Saturn . In about a month, Saturn will begin to disappear into the sunset fires. And Friday will bring one of the final opportunities for many skywatchers to make a positive identification of the ringed planet, as it will appear close to the waxing crescent moon .
What if the Moon disappeared tomorrow? | Astronomy.com
Many things are taking place:
Venus, Jupiter and the Moon Gather for Thanksgiving Night Sky Feast | Space
This week, Venus and Jupiter are very low in the southwest during the chilly November dusk. When the month began, they were widely separated, by nearly 24 degrees. Your clenched fist held at arm's length measures roughly 10 degrees, so the two brightest planets appeared about two and a half fists apart.
But in the days that followed, the two planets have been approaching each other, getting closer by about 1 degree each day. When they overtake each other this weekend, the meeting will be further enlivened by background stars and the passage on Thanksgiving evening of a foreground waxing crescent moon .
China's Microsatellite Crash Site on the Moon Spotted by NASA Lunar Orbiter | Space
China's Longjiang-2 spacecraft — also known as the Discovering the Sky at Longest Wavelengths Pathfinder, or DSLWP-B — crashed onto the lunar far side on July 31 after completing its orbital mission. On Nov. 14, a scientist on NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mission announced that the spacecraft had spotted Longjiang-2's apparent impact site.
The China National Space Administration launched the Longjiang-2 satellite to the moon along with the Queqiao relay communications satellite on May 20, 2018. The small spacecraft, which weighed nearly 100 lbs. (45 kilograms), was designed to work with its twin, Longjiang-1, to validate technologies for low-frequency radio astronomy observations.
Moon, Saturn to meet in night sky conjunction on Black Friday | 6abc.com
Dutch-Chinese radio telescope antennas unfolded behind the moon
Marc Klein Wolt, managing director of the Radboud Radio Lab and leader of the Dutch team, is happy: "Our contribution to the Chinese Chang'e 4 mission has now increased tremendously. We have the opportunity to perform our observations during the fourteen-day-long night behind the moon, which is much longer than was originally the idea. The moon night is ours, now."
Last week, Klein Wolt went to China with engineer Eric Bertels from the antenna manufacturer ISISpace to prepare the unfolding of the antennas. Bertels: "The launch eighteen months ago was already extremely thrilling, of course, but we had no hand in it. Now that our own instrument was concerned, things were rather different."
Happening on Twitter
Private Moon Landers May Need More Customers Than Just NASA https://t.co/OxblnFx3Lp https://t.co/iODFFCAQIy SPACEdotcom (from NYC) Wed Nov 27 12:15:04 +0000 2019
NASA Picks SpaceX, Blue Origin and More to Join Private Moon Lander Project https://t.co/qn6XnJ8FCw https://t.co/TZItuUHznf SPACEdotcom (from NYC) Mon Nov 18 22:22:08 +0000 2019
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