May 2007

Britain due to expand Moon and planetary missions

There have been several recent press releases that indicate increased UK space activity, with planned missions to both the Moon and beyond.

In January, a consortium proposed two missions to the Moon. MoonLITE will launch four darts to the lunar surface on the far side of the moon, sending them into craters over a wide area and penetrating to a depth of 2m. The darts will carry a small set of instruments including seismometers to measure 'Moonquakes' which will enable research into the make-up of the lunar interior.

Instruments in darts would be fired from orbit

The second mission, MoonRaker, is designed to land on the lunar surface, either at the poles or the giant impact crater on the far side of the Moon, to study the lunar surface.

Moonraker would land on the lunar surface

More recently, in April, the British National Space Centre (BNSC) and NASA signed an agreement to see how they can work together on future planetary and Moon explorations to utilise UK expertise in small satellite and robotic technologies. This will build on a long history of collaboration on NASA missions, as British technology has previously been used within the Stereo mission (studying the Sun) and the Swift mission (detecting gamma-ray bursts).

Further information

Britain plans first moon mission - BBC, 10 January 2007
UK looks to closer ties with NASA - BBC, 20 April 2007
US and UK pledge to work on new space exploration initiative - British National Space Centre press release, 20 April 2007

Images reproduced courtesy of the BBC

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