Star Points for October 2010 by Curtis Roelle Scrambling for the Moon Regular readers know that once in a while we discuss what's going on in a new quest for the moon by the world's current space faring nations. It's time to catch up on that news. You may recall that the "lunar club," or countries that have launched unmanned lunar missions, includes Russia, Japan, the European Union, China, India, and, of course, the USA. India is the newest member having launched its first lunar mission in 2008. Japan, China, India and the USA have all launched orbiting lunar photoreconnaissance missions during the past three years. Japan launched the SELENE lunar orbiting satellite in 2007. It operated until it was intentionally deorbited and crashed on the moon in 2009. China launched Chang'e-1 in 2007, three years ago this month. It mapped the moon until it too was intentionally deorbited in 2009. India launched Chandrayaan-1 in 2008, two years ago this month. It operated for about 10 months. Launched last year in 2009, America's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter made news by successfully photographing each Apollo landing site where Americans walked on the moon on six different missions from 1969 through 1972. Not only were the abandoned lunar module descent stages visible, but so too were their spindly legs. Experiment packages deployed by the astronauts and their very footprints were visible in high resolution images, even after more than 40 years. China's next lunar mission is the Chang'e-2, a test mission in lunar orbit. According to the Shanghai Daily it should be on it's seven day journey to the moon by the time this column reaches readers. Russia and India are jointly developing a lunar landing vehicle for a 2013 launch. The Russian-built Luna-Resource lander will carry India's four-wheeled Chandrayaan-2 lunar rover, according to BBC reporting. As if that weren't enough, China is also planning to conduct its first lunar landing in 2013. The Chang'e-3 will carry an ultraviolet telescope to the moon's surface. By the way, there is already such a telescope on the moon left by the Apollo 16 astronauts in 1972 more than 40 years earlier. China also hopes to eventually construct an astronomical observatory on the moon, although its timetable is uncertain. According to its web site, the China National Space Administration is pursuing lunar exploration in three distinct stages. They are orbiting, landing, and returning. The goal for the last step will be a lunar sample return mission. Chang'e is the name of the Chinese moon goddess. The Europeans are planning to land an unmanned vehicle near the lunar south pole in 2018. According to Aerospace & Defence News (ASDN) the landing site will be a rough mountainous region. In other notable space flight development closer to earth, China is gearing up for its construction of a small manned space station in earth orbit. According to SpaceFlightNow.com, China will launch the unmanned Tiangong 1 laboratory module into space next year. Following that will be a series of visits by unmanned and manned Shenzhou capsules. But a prior experiment may be going on as you are reading these words. Two unmanned Chinese satellites are currently mysteriously flying in close formation. Both are Shijian vehicles, SJ-06F and SJ-12. Western observers have been speculating about what they might be up to. It could be a demonstration of Chinese rendezvous techniques in preparation for their space station. More ominously, SpaceNews.com raises the prospect that the satellite formation may be part of an effort by China to develop a satellite capable of approaching and inspecting another satellite, or even an experiment to further develop China's anti-satellite capabilities. In 2007 China made headlines by launching a missile that destroyed one of its aging satellites by impacting and blowing it to bits, creating a debris cloud in space sparking worldwide criticism. I have viewed SJ-06F and SJ-12 from the backyard with nothing more than a pair of binoculars. SJ- 06F is the brightest of the pair. The fainter SJ-12 follows about four seconds behind with both satellites visible in the same binocular field as they coast in formation, drifting slowly overhead against the starry background. Shijian means "practice" in Chinese.