Tag: Moon

China has achieved a world first in space navigation by successfully firing a laser beam at a moon-bound satellite in broad daylight. Scientists at the Deep Space Exploration Laboratory in Hefei managed to strike the Tiandu-1 satellite, orbiting 130,000 kilometers from Earth, and record its distance with centimeter-level accuracy.

The experiment, carried out this week, marks the first time laser ranging has been achieved to a lunar spacecraft under sunny skies. Laser ranging works by sending short pulses of light to a target and measuring the time it takes for them to bounce back.

Until now, these tests were typically done at night, when faint return signals could be detected more easily without interference from sunlight. China’s team overcame this problem by using specialized filters and highly accurate timing equipment.

Their system was able to detect returning signals despite the overwhelming brightness of daytime conditions.

The Tiandu-1 satellite, launched in January, sits about a third of the way between Earth and the Moon. Tracking an object at that distance is difficult because of its speed and size. Researchers described the challenge as similar to hitting a moving hair from several kilometers away.

Still, their instruments recorded precise readings from laser pulses lasting only a few billionths of a second. Daytime tracking has clear benefits. It allows continuous monitoring of spacecraft without waiting for nightfall.

This capability is vital for China’s upcoming lunar missions, which include landing astronauts on the Moon by 2030 and building a joint base with Russia by 2035. It will also support their Queqiao relay satellites, designed to maintain constant communication with rovers and landers on the lunar surface.

The technology builds on earlier methods developed during the Apollo missions, when American astronauts placed retroreflectors on the Moon.

These are still used to measure its orbit, but China’s test shows how modern tools can work on spacecraft traveling through cislunar space in real time. Beyond the Moon, such technology could also improve navigation for Mars missions and asteroid probes.

Accurate distance measurements help map gravitational fields and predict spacecraft paths. With an estimated 100,000 satellites expected in low Earth orbit in the coming years, better ranging systems may also help reduce the risk of collisions.

For astronomers and engineers, the test highlights how small improvements in technology can make a major difference in managing space traffic and planning interplanetary travel.

China’s success in daytime laser ranging represents a new step in building safer and more reliable navigation systems for future exploration.

A team of Chinese researchers has found a way to turn lunar soil into water, oxygen, and even rocket fuel. That might sound like science fiction, but it’s a real step toward building self-sufficient Moon bases, and it could save future space missions a lot of money.

The trick lies in the lunar regolith, the dusty surface layer covering the Moon. It contains minerals like ilmenite that hold small amounts of water. The team developed a solar-powered method to heat the soil and extract useful materials. The water can be used for drinking or broken down to make oxygen. And when combined with gases from astronauts’ exhaled breath, it could even create fuel.

It matters because space is expensive. Really expensive. A USDA ARS report from 2023 estimated that sending just one gallon of water to space costs about $83,000. That’s why scientists are so focused on using what’s already out there. NASA estimates the Moon’s poles could hold around 270 billion tons of water ice, which is enough to support missions for decades.

The same method could also recycle carbon dioxide from astronauts and turn it into hydrogen and carbon monoxide, both of which can be used as fuel. It’s a compact process that could help future Moon bases run more independently.

Lu Wang and his team at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, tested the technique using samples from China’s Chang’e-5 mission. Their study, published July 16, 2025, in Joule, showed promising results. Wang even described the soil’s efficiency as “magic” because of its unexpected chemical potential.

Of course, there are still hurdles. Lunar soil isn’t the same everywhere, and extreme temperatures that can swing from 260°F to -280°F make it hard to design reliable equipment. Plus, this system can’t yet produce enough to fully support a mission. It’s more of a starting point than a finished solution.

Still, it’s a promising one. China is aiming for a permanent Moon base by 2035, and NASA’s Artemis program is working on similar tech. Whoever gets there first could shape how we explore the rest of the solar system.

We’re not ready to fuel rockets or support full missions with moon dust just yet, but we’re getting closer. Continued improvements will determine whether this method can sustain a human presence on the Moon.

China’s team of scientists has released the first research findings on lunar soil brought back by the Chang’e 6 mission, offering new information about the moon’s far side.

The paper, published on September 17 in the National Science Review, details the unique characteristics of the 1.935 kilograms of lunar samples returned by the mission in June 2024. The research highlights differences between soil from the far side and previously studied samples from the near side.

The Chang’e 6 mission launched from Hainan Island on May 3, 2024, and returned to Earth on June 25, landing in northern China. The samples were collected from the side of the moon that faces away from Earth. Teams from the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Lunar Exploration and Space Engineering Center, and the Beijing Institute of Spacecraft System Engineering have analyzed the material since its return.

The research shows that the far side soil is more porous and less dense than near side samples. It contains higher levels of plagioclase and lower amounts of olivine compared to the Chang’e 5 samples. Lithic fragments in the samples include basalt, breccia, agglutinate, glasses, and leucocrate.

The concentration of trace elements such as thorium, uranium, and potassium also differs from earlier lunar samples collected by the Apollo missions and Chang’e 5.

Scientists note that these findings could support future lunar missions, including crewed landings planned by China by 2030. Understanding the soil’s composition can guide the design of spacesuits and equipment for astronauts, making missions safer and more efficient. The study offers the first detailed look at material from the moon’s far side, a region previously unexplored through direct sample collection.

Source: A journal on Chinese and global scientific achievement

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has joined efforts to establish a dedicated time zone for the Moon, supporting a plan led by NASA to create a new standard by 2026. The decision, discussed at the IAU’s General Assembly in Cape Town, South Africa, follows an April directive from the White House instructing NASA to design a lunar time system.

At present, space missions rely on the time zone of the country that launched them, but as more international partners prepare to operate on the Moon, experts say a unified system is necessary. A standardized lunar time, known as Lunar Coordinated Time (LTC), would improve communication, navigation, and scientific coordination between crews and spacecraft.

On Earth, global time is regulated through Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), which is calculated using 450 atomic clocks located in 85 laboratories worldwide. The Moon presents different challenges. Its weaker gravity and orbital dynamics cause time to run slightly faster by about 58.7 microseconds per Earth day compared to UTC.

Although the difference is tiny, researchers stress that even microsecond-level errors can affect navigation, spacecraft tracking, and synchronization of systems. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recently highlighted how Earth-based UTC clocks would drift if used directly on the lunar surface.

A lunar time system would be set using atomic clocks adapted to the Moon’s gravity. These would allow astronauts and robotic missions to operate on a consistent schedule, avoiding discrepancies between countries and ensuring safety during complex missions such as NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to return astronauts to the Moon later this decade.

The IAU’s support reflects a growing international consensus that the Moon, as a shared space environment, will require its own infrastructure, including timekeeping. Establishing Lunar Coordinated Time is now seen as a critical step toward building long-term human presence beyond Earth.