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Ephemeris: 11/28/2023 – The new Moon Race

November 28, 2023 Comments off

This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Tuesday, November 28th. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 8 minutes, setting at 5:05, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:57. The Moon, 1 day past full, will rise at 5:47 this evening.

Now, in the third decade of the 21st century, 50 years since Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon, there’s now a big rush by many nations and some private companies to send missions to the moon, with orbiters and landers. The biggest and most expensive project is the United States Artemis project which has launched one of the SLS rockets to the moon and will send another one probably later next year in preparation for a landing, in a year or two after that. Earlier this year India successfully landed a probe on the Moon with a rover for less cost that it would take Hollywood to make a movie about it. They are making noises about sending a manned mission to the moon by 2040. Stay tuned, we have an exciting decade of lunar exploration coming up.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT –5 hours). They may be different for your location.

Addendum

Vikram lander photographed by the Pragyan Rover
Vikram Lander photographed by the Pragyan Rover. Credit: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
Pragyan Rover trundles onto the lunar surface after leaving the ramp from the Vikram Lander. Credit: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).