Author Topic: CANCELLED : Masten MM1 - lunar South Pole  (Read 9917 times)

Offline FutureSpaceTourist

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CANCELLED : Masten MM1 - lunar South Pole
« on: 08/26/2020 06:27 pm »
https://www.newswire.com/news/spacex-to-launch-masten-lunar-mission-in-2022-21199972

SpaceX to Launch Masten Lunar Mission in 2022
Launch to deliver Masten's lunar lander carrying NASA and commercial payloads.

PRESS RELEASE  UPDATED: AUG 26, 2020 12:34 CDT
Masten's XL-1 Lunar Lander
MOJAVE, Calif., August 26, 2020 (Newswire.com) - Masten Space Systems announced today that it has selected SpaceX to launch Masten Mission One (MM1). As part of MM1, Masten’s lunar lander will deliver nine NASA-sponsored science and technology demonstration experiments and several commercial payloads to the lunar south pole.

“Having SpaceX’s proven launch success behind us is not only great for us, but it’s great for our customers,” said Masten chief executive officer, Sean Mahoney. “We share a common vision with SpaceX, and that makes this more than a partnership. It’s more like a dream team.”

Masten’s first mission to the Moon, MM1 is a collaboration with NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) Project Office. The Masten XL-1 lunar lander is scheduled to touch down on the lunar south pole in 2022, carrying a suite of NASA-sponsored scientific instruments and various payloads from commercial space customers.

“We are thrilled to be launching Masten’s Mission One to the Moon in 2022,” said SpaceX Senior Director of Commercial Sales Stephanie Bednarek. “SpaceX was founded upon the goal of extending humanity’s reach beyond Earth, and it’s exciting to take part in a mission with many partners who share the same vision.”

Masten’s additional capacity on its first mission to the Moon provides opportunities for commercial partners to access the resource-rich lunar south pole. If your company is interested in sending a payload to the Moon, you can learn more at www.MastenMoon.com.

About Masten Space Systems

Mojave, California-based Masten Space Systems wrangles rocket-powered landing from sci-fi into reality, connecting the steps from napkin, to lab, to test site and all the way to the surface of the Moon. For over 15 years, the Masten team has torn down barriers to space, working with partners of all types to create value in the space ecosystem. Masten is the partner of choice for fellow innovators and explorers who are changing how we access and use space, bringing the benefits of space to the benefit of humans here on Earth.

About NASA’s CLPS Program

NASA is working with several American companies to deliver science and technology to the lunar surface through the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative. These companies of varying sizes will bid on delivering payloads for NASA, including payload integration and operations, launching from Earth and landing on the surface of the Moon. Under the Artemis program, early commercial delivery missions will perform science experiments, test technologies and demonstrate capabilities to help NASA explore the Moon and prepare for human missions.

Edit to add: press release only says 2022, but Masten tweeted December

https://twitter.com/mastenspace/status/1298689977841221633

Quote
WE'VE GOT A RIDE! We're thrilled to announce our partnership with @SpaceX to take Masten Mission One (MM1) to the Moon in December 2022. Thanks to @elonmusk, @gwynneshotwell, and the entire SpaceX team!
« Last Edit: 08/17/2022 03:45 am by zubenelgenubi »

Offline gongora

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Re: Masten MM1 - lunar South Pole - Dec 2022
« Reply #1 on: 08/26/2020 07:09 pm »
Nothing was said in the announcement about the launch vehicle or whether it's a dedicated flight.  In the absence of more information I'd guess rideshare, but we'll see.

Offline Ben the Space Brit

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Re: Masten MM1 - lunar South Pole - Dec 2022
« Reply #2 on: 08/26/2020 07:50 pm »
Everything really depends on payload weight. Unless this is super-lightweight, I would have thought that the Falcon-9 U/S would need a dedicated flight to have enough delta-v left for TLI.

Good news for Masten, in any case! Anything that further opens up lunar orbit and lunar surface is a good thing in my book.
« Last Edit: 08/26/2020 07:51 pm by Ben the Space Brit »
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Offline vaporcobra

Re: Masten MM1 - lunar South Pole - Dec 2022
« Reply #3 on: 08/26/2020 08:28 pm »
Based on the design discussed in Masten's 2019 XL-1 payload user's guide, the dry mass and wet mass are 675 kg and 2675 kg. That wet mass would be a challenge for rideshare unless a GTO customer accepts a fairly low insertion orbit or XL-1 is able to reach LLO from LEO.

Payload capability is 100 kg and XL-1's longevity is about one lunar day (~12 days).

Offline TrevorMonty

Re: Masten MM1 - lunar South Pole - Dec 2022
« Reply #4 on: 08/26/2020 08:55 pm »
Based on the design discussed in Masten's 2019 XL-1 payload user's guide, the dry mass and wet mass are 675 kg and 2675 kg. That wet mass would be a challenge for rideshare unless a GTO customer accepts a fairly low insertion orbit or XL-1 is able to reach LLO from LEO.

Payload capability is 100 kg and XL-1's longevity is about one lunar day (~12 days).
F9 should be able to do it and recover booster, but not lot of spare mass for rideshare, maybe odd cubesat or smallsat.

Online Robotbeat

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Re: Masten MM1 - lunar South Pole - Dec 2022
« Reply #5 on: 08/26/2020 09:03 pm »
Pretty sweet. It has come full circle. Masten demonstrated in-air relight of Xombie which eventually inspired SpaceX to develop VTVL reuse which now has given Masten a fairly cheap ride to the Moon.

I love it. :)
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Offline smoliarm

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Re: Masten MM1 - lunar South Pole - Dec 2022
« Reply #6 on: 08/26/2020 09:04 pm »
Based on the design discussed in Masten's 2019 XL-1 payload user's guide, the dry mass and wet mass are 675 kg and 2675 kg. That wet mass would be a challenge for rideshare unless a GTO customer accepts a fairly low insertion orbit or XL-1 is able to reach LLO from LEO.

Payload capability is 100 kg and XL-1's longevity is about one lunar day (~12 days).
F9 should be able to do it and recover booster, but not lot of spare mass for rideshare, maybe odd cubesat or smallsat.
Well, NASA Performance Website says Falcon 9 FT (ASDS) has payload ~3500 kg for launch at C3=-2 (km2/sec2)
So, for a rideshare going to TLI they have about 800 kg minus PL adapter

Offline Rzeppa

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Re: Masten MM1 - lunar South Pole - Dec 2022
« Reply #7 on: 08/26/2020 09:28 pm »
From https://www.masten.aero/xl1

Quote
The XL-1 is sized for launch as a secondary or ride-share payload on Falcon 9, Atlas V, or Delta IV launch vehicles.
Jeff Zepp

Offline gongora

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Re: Masten MM1 - lunar South Pole - Dec 2022
« Reply #8 on: 08/26/2020 09:29 pm »
Does the Masten vehicle need to go straight to TLI, or can it start from GTO?

Offline cwr

Re: Masten MM1 - lunar South Pole - Dec 2022
« Reply #9 on: 08/26/2020 10:01 pm »
Does the Masten vehicle need to go straight to TLI, or can it start from GTO?

The press release I saw had a pointer to something like www.mastenmoon.com
When I clicked on that link it took me to www.masten.aero/moon

That article says:
"The spacecraft will be put on a translunar injection by the launch vehicle, and once in lunar orbit, will fire its 4 main engines to slow down and autonomously descend into a soft touchdown".

It appears to be talking about this mission with the XL1.
That doesn't answer your question but I thought the material on that page may be useful.

Carl

Offline Zed_Noir

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Re: Masten MM1 - lunar South Pole - Dec 2022
« Reply #10 on: 08/27/2020 12:36 am »
Masten says December:

https://twitter.com/mastenspace/status/1298689977841221633

Quote
WE'VE GOT A RIDE! We're thrilled to announce our partnership with @SpaceX to take Masten Mission One (MM1) to the Moon in December 2022. Thanks to @elonmusk, @gwynneshotwell, and the entire SpaceX team!

Hmm. Masten didn't state what they are going up on. Unlikely to be a stand alone flight with just the Masten CLPS lander. So maybe a rideshare with something else.

Offline Comga

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Re: Masten MM1 - lunar South Pole - Dec 2022
« Reply #11 on: 08/27/2020 12:59 am »
Masten says December:

https://twitter.com/mastenspace/status/1298689977841221633

Quote
WE'VE GOT A RIDE! We're thrilled to announce our partnership with @SpaceX to take Masten Mission One (MM1) to the Moon in December 2022. Thanks to @elonmusk, @gwynneshotwell, and the entire SpaceX team!

Hmm. Masten didn't state what they are going up on. Unlikely to be a stand alone flight with just the Masten CLPS lander. So maybe a rideshare with something else.

This is discussed in the mission specific thread.
The consensus is that there is room for a much smaller ride sharing payload if the TLI is done by an F9.
MM1 is more massive than other Falcon 9 payloads like TESS (362 kg),  DSCOVR (570 kg) , and IXPE (292 kg) that have flown (or will fly) without rideharing.
Is there any evidence of another mass rideshare on a Heavy?
Without that, it seems conclusive MM1 will be at least the primary, if not sole, payload on a dedicated Falcon 9 launch.
I think that's much to their benefit.

edit: Thank you mod for moving this back from the Manifest thread to where it should be discussed. 
That was my intent with the link.
We can put it in the Manifest thread when a secondary payload, or other launch detail, is announced.
« Last Edit: 08/27/2020 05:14 am by Comga »
What kind of wastrels would dump a perfectly good booster in the ocean after just one use?

Offline russianhalo117

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Re: Masten MM1 - lunar South Pole - Dec 2022
« Reply #12 on: 08/27/2020 02:29 am »
Masten says December:

https://twitter.com/mastenspace/status/1298689977841221633

Quote
WE'VE GOT A RIDE! We're thrilled to announce our partnership with @SpaceX to take Masten Mission One (MM1) to the Moon in December 2022. Thanks to @elonmusk, @gwynneshotwell, and the entire SpaceX team!

Hmm. Masten didn't state what they are going up on. Unlikely to be a stand alone flight with just the Masten CLPS lander. So maybe a rideshare with something else.

This is discussed in the mission specific thread.
The consensus is that there is room for a much smaller ride sharing payload if the TLI is done by an F9.
MM1 is more massive than other Falcon 9 payloads like TESS (362 kg),  DSCOVR (570 kg) , and IXPE (292 kg) that have flown (or will fly) without rideharing.
Is there any evidence of another mass rideshare on a Heavy?
Without that, it seems conclusive MM1 will be at least the primary, if not sole, payload on a dedicated Falcon 9 launch.
I think that's much to their benefit.
Keep an eye on this mission which is soon to have its launch contract awarded:

LunarTrailblazer (SIMPLEx-5) just switched satellite bus providers to a new yet to be announced LM family bus (Potentially to be called LM-200 as bus mass is at ~200kg places it between the current LM-50 and LM-400 products) that will be deployed from the internal secondary payload slot of an ESPA Grande ring(s).
https://trailblazer.caltech.edu/news/newFlightSystem.html

EDIT: LT is launching as the secondary on IMAP:
https://trailblazer.caltech.edu/timeline.html
« Last Edit: 08/27/2020 05:02 pm by russianhalo117 »

Offline Ben the Space Brit

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Re: Masten MM1 - lunar South Pole - Dec 2022
« Reply #13 on: 08/27/2020 10:16 am »
Hmm. Masten didn't state what they are going up on. Unlikely to be a stand alone flight with just the Masten CLPS lander. So maybe a rideshare with something else.

Any lunar orbiters scheduled to go up in the 2022 time-frame? The best kind of ride-share is one going to the same destination trajectory, after all!
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Offline soltasto

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Re: Masten MM1 - lunar South Pole - Dec 2022
« Reply #14 on: 08/27/2020 12:27 pm »
Hmm. Masten didn't state what they are going up on. Unlikely to be a stand alone flight with just the Masten CLPS lander. So maybe a rideshare with something else.

Any lunar orbiters scheduled to go up in the 2022 time-frame? The best kind of ride-share is one going to the same destination trajectory, after all!

KPLO

Offline Zed_Noir

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Re: Masten MM1 - lunar South Pole - Dec 2022
« Reply #15 on: 08/27/2020 08:39 pm »
Hmm. Masten didn't state what they are going up on. Unlikely to be a stand alone flight with just the Masten CLPS lander. So maybe a rideshare with something else.

Any lunar orbiters scheduled to go up in the 2022 time-frame? The best kind of ride-share is one going to the same destination trajectory, after all!

KPLO

However KPLO is scheduled for July 2022.

But the PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) mission is scheduled for December 2022 on a Falcon 9 to a 676 km high orbit at 98° inclination with a launch mass of 1694 kg from Florida.

Does the Falcon 9 upper stage have enough delta-V left to do a TLI burn afterwards?

Offline gongora

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Re: Masten MM1 - lunar South Pole - Dec 2022
« Reply #16 on: 08/27/2020 08:42 pm »
I don't think the KPLO schedule is set in stone

Offline russianhalo117

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Re: Masten MM1 - lunar South Pole - Dec 2022
« Reply #17 on: 08/27/2020 08:46 pm »
Hmm. Masten didn't state what they are going up on. Unlikely to be a stand alone flight with just the Masten CLPS lander. So maybe a rideshare with something else.

Any lunar orbiters scheduled to go up in the 2022 time-frame? The best kind of ride-share is one going to the same destination trajectory, after all!

KPLO

However KPLO is scheduled for July 2022.

But the PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) mission is scheduled for December 2022 on a Falcon 9 to a 676 km high orbit at 98° inclination with a launch mass of 1694 kg from Florida.

Does the Falcon 9 upper stage have enough delta-V left to do a TLI burn afterwards?
Given the current schedule I personally think we would see the following pairings:
July 1 - KPLO (Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter) - Falcon 9 - Canaveral SLC-40 / Kennedy LC-39A
TBD - HAKUTO-R Lunar Lander mission 1 - Falcon 9 - Canaveral SLC-40 / Kennedy LC-39A
-----
H2 - O3b mPower 7, O3b mPower 8, O3b mPower 9 - Falcon 9 - Canaveral SLC-40 / Kennedy LC-39A
December - Masten Mission One (MM1):  Masten XL-1 Lunar Lander with nine NASA-sponsored and several commercial payloads to the lunar south pole - Falcon 9 - Canaveral SLC-40 / Kennedy LC-39A
« Last Edit: 08/27/2020 08:51 pm by russianhalo117 »

Offline TrevorMonty

Re: Masten MM1 - lunar South Pole - Dec 2022
« Reply #18 on: 08/27/2020 09:01 pm »
The new 1000kg LVs coming on line soon should also enable dedicated TLI missions for smallsats or landers in 200-300kg range. These priced around $15m.

Now back to main story.

Offline gongora

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Re: Masten MM1 - lunar South Pole - Nov 2023
« Reply #19 on: 06/23/2021 07:09 pm »
Masten mission to lunar south pole: Schedule shift to 2023

Mojave, California, June 23, 2021 – Masten Space Systems is proud to be one of NASA’s providers for lunar delivery services to the Moon as part of the agency’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative. Masten Mission 1 includes delivery of science and technology instruments near the Haworth Crater at the lunar south pole, a site expected to offer insight into the presence of important volatiles on the Moon. In addition to commercial payloads, Masten’s XL-1 lunar lander will deliver and operate eight NASA-sponsored payloads to assess the composition of the lunar surface, evaluate radiation, and detect volatiles, such as water, methane, and carbon dioxide, under the agency’s Artemis program.

Given the importance of this mission to scientific research and future human exploration, Masten is taking all necessary steps to ensure its success. Accordingly, due to the cumulative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and industry-wide supply chain delays, Masten has adjusted the mission schedule from December 2022 to November 2023. This adjustment is the result of careful consideration of mission objectives, conditions on the lunar surface, and supplier timelines.

“We’ve all been impacted by the pandemic in some way, and the aerospace industry is no exception,” said David Masten, CTO and founder of Masten. “However, we’ve consulted with NASA, our launch provider, and payload partners, and we have full confidence in the new mission schedule. Our team continues to make progress on XL-1 development and achieve important milestones that will help ensure a safe, precise landing near the resource-rich Haworth Crater.”

In addition to accounting for COVID-related delays, the schedule adjustment to 2023 will enable reduced shadowing from nearby terrain, which allows for more power generation and more time for science and exploration. XL-1 relies on solar power to operate its instruments, so maximizing exposure to the sun is vital to mission success.

“Masten Mission 1 will be the first of many Masten missions to the lunar surface and beyond,” said Sean Mahoney, Masten CEO. “With capacity for additional payloads, we welcome more partners to join us on this mission and future missions to come. We look forward to building a vibrant lunar economy by enabling regular, ongoing access and utilization of the Moon.”

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