Website & Blog of Jatan Mehta, a globally published & cited space writer. Read deep dives on global lunar and space exploration.

Moon Monday #287: Mission updates from China, the US, Europe, and Japan

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! 🌕 Open Lunar is a US-based non-profit organization with a global team that develops bottom-up tools of lunar governance to enable

Our Moon is two-faced. Science missions unravel its layers.

Moon Monday #286: China’s Chang’e 6 samples have helped scientists decipher enigmatic layers of the lunar farside, leaving a curious trail for future missions to build upon.

Upcoming missions to the Moon’s farside—that’s definitely not its dark side.

Moon Monday #285

Articles on asteroids, comets, and dwarf worlds

* Why explore asteroids, comets, and other small worlds * When to worry about an asteroid hitting Earth * Psyche, exploring a metal world * Japan wants to sample Mars’ moon Phobos with its MMX mission * Weirdest types of moons in our Solar System Related: Articles on moons other than our Moon Like my

Explore our Moon!

A curated page of resources to learn and share how countries worldwide have explored our stellar cosmic companion.

Slightly different articles on Mars and missions to it

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. NASA explores Mars * Looking back at Pathfinder as

The Moon’s south pole is a place of promise and perils. Effective data sharing will benefit and save everyone.

Moon Monday #283: Some engineers and scientists are leading by example.

Achievements and shortfalls in global lunar exploration this half year | Moon Monday #282

A contextualized overview of the world’s Moon exploration efforts.

Lessons on lapses in lunar missions operations from the 20th century | Moon Monday #281

Announcement before we begin: I’m excited to welcome PierSight as a returning sponsor of my independent space writing for another year! 🌙 Ahmedabad-based PierSight is building a constellation of SAR satellites equipped with AIS sensors for persistent, all-weather ocean studies and monitoring. With $8 million raised in funds,

Smashing success: The time NASA figured out our Moon is cratered all the way down | Moon Monday #280

Plus: What the agency’s planning in the lead up to safe Apollo astronaut landings teaches us about preparing for the next frontier this century.

Artemis III, test like you won’t fly?

Moon Monday #279: “Artemis updates inside”, like “intel inside”. All puns intended.

India and the dream of an orbital launch trifecta | Part 5 of ISRO’s rocket crisis

Indian Space Progress #39-40: How a multitude of causes slow down the pace of India’s launch vehicles, and what would it take for the country to achieve an optimum “hat-trick” state given its many needs and ambitions in space.