1827 – Komal

Komal had not heard about the mission to the moon in 2024. But she is excited that we are learning more about the moon and the planets. And she thinks it will be good progress to have the first woman walk on the moon. She would not like to go to the moon herself, but she would definitely like to visit with the people that went to the moon (perhaps at a NSS North Houston Space Society meeting (http://NorthHoustonSpace.org)).
We talked a little about the http://DearMoon.Earth project which will be sending a group of artists around the moon on a SpaceX Starship in 2023. These people will be able to communicate their experiences to the rest of us.

We also talked about the three attempts to land on the moon in 2019. India successfully put an orbiter around the moon but the lander crashed. Israel tried earlier in the year and also crashed. But in January 2019 China landed a rover on the far side of the moon which has been operating all year long. It has survived the lunar night (~-200C) and lunar day (~200C).

China is planning on a Lunar sample return mission in 2020. The US companies Astrobotics ( https://www.astrobotic.com/ ) and Intuitive Machines ( https://www.intuitivemachines.com/ ) will be landing in 2021. Astrobotics has a deal with DHL to land small payloads for private citizens on the moon called DHL Moonbox. ( https://www.astrobotic.com/moon-box )