jatan.space 🌙

Before we begin, I’m thrilled to share that Astrolab is continuing to be a sponsor of my Moon Monday blog+newsletter for the third year in a row!

Artemis updates Illustration of a SpaceX Starship lunar lander prototype docked with the Orion spacecraft in Earth orbit, as would be attempted for NASA’s Artemis III mission.

The Chandrayaan 3 lander Vikram on the Moon, imaged by the mission’s rover Pragyan on August 30, 2023.

Our Moon as imaged by the Galileo spacecraft flying past it on December 7, 1992.

Joint Indo-US discovery of water and hydroxyl across the Moon’s surface by the Chandrayaan 1 orbiter, prominently highlighted as blue and violet on this reflected infrared radiation map.

Gracious gray amid the blue & bright Surreal silver against the night Sometimes an uncanny crescent or a gibbous glow in ascent Other times a hollow halo or a cloud glow Reflective and rolling, when near Stony stark skyline, when on it Cosmic microcosm, w…

Mission updates Beautiful shot of the Long March 5 rocket housing the Chang’e 7 spacecraft, imaged around its first lunar launch attempt in August at Wenchang | Image: NARIT The launch of China’s Chang’e 7 mission, intending to systematically study water…

China announced last month that it has demonstrated two-way optical laser communications between Earth and its DRO-A satellite, which was launched in 2024 and put in a stable Distant Retrograde Orbit (DRO).

Our Moon as seen by the Galileo spacecraft when it flew past on December 7, 1992.

Unlike the millions of years it takes for most mountains on Earth to form, lunar mountains crop out near-instantly, geologically speaking.

First launch of Skyroot’s Vikram-1 rocket from ISRO’s Sriharikota launch complex.

The global rush to the Moon this century is catalyzed in major part by the presence of water ice, soil rich in oxygen and metals, and other such resources.

Craft launched from Luna, no tether can go farther, faster while being lighter Exploring more worlds with joy and curiosity hosting ideas, deploying empathy and even skepticism for humanity From the edge of a gravitational well they can push the discourse…

Before we begin, I’m thrilled to share that Open Lunar Foundation is continuing as a sponsor of my Moon Monday blog+newsletter for the sixth year!

It wasn’t until 1959 that any being on Earth saw our Moon’s farside for the first time.

<If you too want to change the frustrating misconception of people at large calling our Moon’s farside as its “dark side”, send them this rebuttal article by Ethan Siegel while also blaming Pink Floyd and the Transformers.

A montage of some asteroids and comets photographed up close by spacecraft.

Our Moon is a unique place to answer fundamental questions about our Solar System and also help enable sustained human presence in space.

I’m very much a Moon person but I’ve written a bit about Mars over the years as well, highlighting a few key aspects about the red planet’s exploration which I thought aren’t discussed as much or in detail.

We may have gone to the Moon before but we haven’t been to its south pole.

Welcome to a linked rundown of global developments in the exploration of our Moon across the first half of 2026.

Announcement before we begin: I’m excited to welcome PierSight as a returning sponsor of my independent space writing for another year!

The Apollo 14 Lunar Module, with its 7° tilt apparent in the picture.

The Artemis III crew on the announcement day.

This article is Part 5 of my series on India’s launch vehicle crisis.

The Chandrayaan 3 lander on the Moon imaged by the mission’s rover Pragyan.

Following NASA’s Artemis rejig, catalyzed Moonbase plans, and the crewed Artemis II lunar flyby earlier this year, the agency has been trying to go full speed in its grand plans for returning US astronauts to the Moon alongside placing of long duration in…

First launch of SpaceX’s Starship V3 launch vehicle.

India’s Chandrayaan 3 lunar landing at the near-polar location of 69.37°S, 32.32°E in August 2023 marked a key moment for the country’s space program.

Artemis updates The bulk of the SLS rocket core stage for the Artemis III mission is seen here arriving at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Left: Venus as it would approximately look to the human eye, imaged by NASA’s Mariner 10 spacecraft (full globe view), Right: Radar image (false-color) of Venus’ surface taken by NASA’s Magellan orbiter (full globe view) Why explore Venus VERITAS, NASA’s…

A composite of images of Jupiter and its four largest moons: Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.

Graphic: Jatan Mehta | Individual images of the Launch Vehicle Mark III (LVM3) rocket, the two Chandrayaan 4 spacecraft stacks, and the Moon’s south pole: ISRO / NASA / GSFC / Timothy McClanahan / LOLA Announcement before we begin: I’m excited to welcome…

Graphic: Jatan Mehta | Individual images of the LVM3 rocket, the two Chandrayaan 4 spacecraft stacks, and the Moon’s south pole: ISRO / NASA / GSFC / Timothy McClanahan / LOLA Chandrayaan 4 will bring unique Moon materials—and maybe a giant scientific leap

Top left: The Chandrayaan 3 rover rolling out of the lander’s ramp during pre-launch testing; Bottom left: The co-added spectrum from all 23 lunar surface soil and rock measurements by the rover’s X-ray spectrometer; Right: An artist’s concept of our Moon…

Left: An artist’s depiction of the Chandrayaan 2 lander in lunar descent: Left inset: The Chandrayaan 2 crash site on the Moon; Right: The Chandrayaan 3 lander on the Moon imaged by the mission’s rover Pragyan.

Let’s explore explore our Moon and its archival boon of Earth’s midnight and afternoon Let’s return return to the gray blemishes for its scientific promises and its technological wishes Let’s also preserve preserve Luna’s natural dents its phases and cult…

Last week I argued how NASA’s Artemis II mission wasn’t a “science” mission even if its communications and majority media coverage have been getting people worldwide to believe so.

Illustration of the Chandrayaan 2 orbiter.

Chandrayaan 1 spacecraft illustration.

Our Moon and Earth captured by the Artemis II Orion spacecraft using a camera at the tip of one of its solar panels.

We’re going back back to the Apollo era back to human eyes at Luna back to views of our blue marble and back to bombing its civilians Back to the horrors of Vietnam in the schools of Iran while lunar astronauts look back “for all humanity” We’re going back

Tucked in a tiny timed capsule against its wonky, worldly windows mesmerized the momentary Moonfarers at sweeping sights of Selene Creased by craters and crowning peaks melts and mountains molded in weeks amid barrages of ballistically laid beads lingered…

The Orion spacecraft with Artemis II astronauts returned to Earth on April 10 after their flyby around the Moon on April 6.

The Artemis II launch, its four astronauts prior to liftoff, people cheering the launch, and the crew’s Orion spacecraft and its beautiful view of a crescent Earth.

Original in Hindustani, as English transliteration and in देवनागरी, followed by its English translation (though not as lyrical): Antariksh ki pyaas Woh bachpan ki kitaabe jisne dikhaye sitaare aaj bhi yaad se nihaare Durbin ki drishṭi me jagmag falak aur…

Before we begin, I’m glad to note that my Indian Space Progress reports completed three years last month, and have crossed 10,000 globally spread readers.

Illustrations of various elements of NASA’s new vision for an Artemis Moon Base.

Left: Model of the ‘Lanyue’ lunar lander stacked on top of its propulsion module; Right: Diagram of the propulsion system of the lander.

We can build cities on the Moon—but who will govern them?