JM @moonmehta - Bluesky Profile

Made a contextualized, linked list of achievements as well as shortfalls in Moon exploration this half year—sorted by country or region. If someone asks you what’s happening at the Moon, you can say all of this is: https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-231/ 🌙

01.07.2025 10:56 — 👍 2 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0

Moon Monday #231: Achievements and shortfalls in Moon exploration this half year A review of notable developments by country or region.

30.06.2025 14:27 — 👍 0 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0

For the love of RSS feeds, simplify your blog’s subscribe page I love reading blogs, newsletters, and virtually anything else on the Web through RSS feeds. As a space writer, it’s the best way for me to keep track of, read, and search what hundreds of sources publish every week. And, I proactively offer my own readers an option to subscribe to my blogs through RSS. Even though I have thousands of email subscribers, I care about this option because it provides people a private and reliably way to read my blogs without having to trust me with their email IDs. Why offer anything less than what you prefer yourself? However, most people don’t know what RSS feeds are, and how feed readers can benefit them. I wrote an accessible article about RSS, which anecdotally made some headway within my friends and little network of humans. But even then most people have a notion that RSS is complicated to use. These notions carry terse truths. Compared to the ease of following someone on social media or subscribing to a newsletter, it’s far from obvious what you’re supposed to do when you encounter an RSS feed icon or link. Even for people who do know about and use RSS readers, it’s still a chore to manually hunt, grab, and add RSS links to their feed readers. How do we simplify this? I redid my space blog’s **RSS feeds page** to offer big buttons for people to subscribe to my posts on every feed reader I could think of. Did you check the page already? Clicking or tapping on any button on that page does one of these two things: 1. If you already use that particular feed reader service/app, you can add my blog to it in two taps. Bam. 2. If you don’t use that reader, most of them will present you with a login & signup option. This way people can directly use a feed reader with at least one blog added instead of having to imagine and figure out what they are and how they work. Isn’t this solution better than the status quo? At least fellow netizens James and Ashur agree. I went ahead and added these two-tap buttons on my personal blog’s feeds page as well. 🤓 These direct-subscribe links work based on special dynamic URLs. I’ve hunted down special URLs for more than 20 feed readers for my feeds pages. Very few RSS readers are missing from the list, and that’s only because they don’t support such a URL structure or scheme—as far as I can tell. I’ve reached out to various such developers to add support for the same. I’m hoping to add direct-subscribe links for Reeder Classic, Feedgrab, Miniflux, and popular Android-only apps. Any tips you have for me to add those or other RSS apps/services are welcome. * * * **P.S.** I absolutely know that many people will still find RSS confusing and just won’t use it. That war is for another day—perhaps if and when the Web is about to come full circle to blogs from the clutches of social media? For now, I’m happy to have made the RSS situation at least a little better than I found it. This is the kind of post which is so niche that most people will wonder what I’m even rambling about. But I don’t care because it has made me feel happy.

26.06.2025 14:05 — 👍 0 🔁 3 💬 0 📌 0

A review of all recent milestones in China’s build up to sending humans to the Moon: https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-230/ 🌗

25.06.2025 15:03 — 👍 0 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0

Moon Monday #229: China extends lead in lunar orbital infrastructure, gets an edge in future crewed missions over the US Plus: Examples of how Western media narratives of Chinese lunar activities misjudge capabilities and intent

16.06.2025 15:08 — 👍 0 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0

Moon Monday #230: China leaps again in its steady march to Luna while NASA’s progress on Artemis remains a mixed bag A look at recent Chinese milestones in the build up to crewed lunar missions, another blow(up) for Artemis, how Firefly’s Ocula can fill critical gaps for NASA, and more.

23.06.2025 14:08 — 👍 0 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0

Moon Monday #230: China leaps again in its steady march to Luna while NASA’s progress on Artemis remains a mixed bag A look at recent Chinese milestones in the build up to crewed lunar missions, another blow(up) for Artemis, how Firefly’s Ocula can fill critical gaps for NASA, and more.

There are many ways to contribute to humanity. Mine is to tell people it’s a Monday: https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-230/ 🌝

23.06.2025 15:16 — 👍 1 🔁 3 💬 0 📌 0

Latest Moon Monday editions and my new articles on space will be shared on this account as soon as they get published: @moonmehta.jatan.space.ap.brid.gy 🌙

Please ensure you follow it as my space blog & newsletter is natively on Bluesky now! I WILL NOT share new articles on this profile anymore.

19.06.2025 06:50 — 👍 0 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0

My personal blog is now directly on Bluesky so new posts get shared automatically! Follow @justjatan.journal.jatan.space.ap.brid.gy ☕️

And, thank you for taking an interest in my thoughts other than space. ^_^

20.06.2025 05:54 — 👍 1 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0

Latest Moon Monday editions and my new articles on space will be shared on this account as soon as they get published: @moonmehta.jatan.space.ap.brid.gy 🌙

Please ensure you follow it as my space blog & newsletter is natively on Bluesky now! I WILL NOT share new articles on this profile anymore.

19.06.2025 06:50 — 👍 0 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0

Took the day off against my will, and thankful for it I’ve been quite productive this month, chief of which has entailed publishing a spree of long articles. Notably, all of these pieces have been on different topics, each concerning an unusually important development in its own niche within the space industry. Because of their very newsy nature, it wasn’t possible to not write about them. Such is the nature of journalism. And I wasn’t content with writing about them the way it was already covered either. And so I ended up with concerted back-to-back efforts in publishing my analysis and commentary on NASA’s abysmal budget proposal, India’s PSLV rocket’s failure, ispace Japan’s crash landing, and China’s growing lead in lunar orbital infrastructure. Today I woke up, freshened up, and began the work day like I would usually. But I just couldn’t get meaningful thoughts to exist, much less flow. Giving the brain more time and trying to catalyze the process with good reads or music did not work either. Every end was dead. Clearly, the streak of articles had taken their toll at last. One of the few perks I do get as an independent writer is to be my own boss. I don’t use that privilege loosely, and much prefer to set scheduled tasks for each day of the work week. But today my mind was just frozen. There weren’t any immediate self-imposed deadlines, and so after some initial reluctance, I decided to just let it be and called off the work day. I slept through the afternoon, then walked in the park, had a nice butter vada pav, did some physical and digital chores, and then read a bit on my Kindle over a big cup of chai (tea). One of those reads was about the fascinating problem of character amnesia in China. Allow me to quote the very first para that will make you click with intrigue: > During a visit to Beijing many years ago, I was having lunch with three PhD students in the Chinese Department at Peking University, all of whom were native speakers of Chinese. I happened to have a cold that day and was trying to write a brief note to a friend to cancel an appointment that afternoon. I found that I could not recall how to write the Chinese characters for the word ‘sneeze’. I asked my three friends to write the characters for me and, to my surprise, all three simply shrugged in sheepish embarrassment. Not one of them could correctly produce the characters. I end the day writing this blog post, which has brought back my fluid thoughts. And now I can sleep in peace. And, maybe this post provided you some perspective for when you find yourself in a similar situation?

18.06.2025 18:24 — 👍 0 🔁 3 💬 0 📌 0

Moon Monday #229: China extends lead in lunar orbital infrastructure, gets an edge in future crewed missions over the US Plus: Examples of how Western media narratives of Chinese lunar activities misjudge capabilities and intent

How China has an edge over the US in sustaining future crewed Moon missions: https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-229/

18.06.2025 13:54 — 👍 2 🔁 3 💬 0 📌 0

Examples of how Western media narratives of China’s lunar activities misjudge capabilities and intent https://moonmehta.jatan.space/posts/examples-of-how-western-media-narratives-of-chinas-lunar-activities-misjudge-capabilities-and-intent

17.06.2025 11:49 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Moon Monday #229: China extends lead in lunar orbital infrastructure, gets an edge in future crewed missions over the US https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-229/

16.06.2025 15:10 — 👍 3 🔁 3 💬 0 📌 0

Newsletter for friends #06: Time flies Hi friends, It’s again been over three months since I sent out the previous newsletter for friends. And once again, a lot has happened in life. Here’s a small snapshot of some notable things you might like to browse. Click the links you’re curious about—that’s what the Web is for. :) ## Loved reading * Lyrical poems by Aurobindo > Friendship is no longer seen as an integral part of daily life, but rather something we squeeze in when all our other responsibilities have been met. * People aren’t mean to talk this much * Twitterlike is a bad shape ## Writing * China selecting international researchers to study Moon samples, demonstrating automated navigation at the Moon, and welcoming India to cooperate on Moon missions * On the immense success of Firefly’s Moon lander but also the disappointing failures of landers from Intuitive Machines and ispace Japan * On India’s joint ISRO-JAXA Chandrayaan 5 / LUPEX mission and the PSLV rocket’s failure * Trump’s proposed budget cuts and changes to NASA’s Moon missions * _Why Moon missions need their own Wikipedia and beyond_ ## Space, personally * Joined Open Lunar’s orbit as their Science Communications Lead * A story about open knowledge sharing in space * Welcomed Catalyx Space, The Orbital Index and PierSight Space as yearly sponsors of my space writing * I had fun moderating a rather stellar panel on global Moon exploration at the international GLEX conference. Watch the video. 🌙 Yours truly speaking at GLEX 2025. ## Thoughts * Utterly fascinated by dinosaurs—want to launch them to space * Made a list of good enough blogging platforms by price if you just want to write * In which AI kills the human Web, or at least its spirit ## Life and Pictures * App subscriptions and Yoghurt * Visited the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort The Taj Mahal from the other side—across the Yamuna river from the “Moonlight garden”Qutub Minar, DelhiTook my niece to the planetarium. She went around saying “amazing” for every space thing that captivated her, especially during the sky theater show. 🌌Pleasures of a drizzly, windy day. Onion pakoda. * * * I’m grateful for this space where I can embrace a calmer digital life and connect with people directly instead of drowning in the slurp—and now slop—of social media. Have you been up to something interesting lately? Want to share a good read? Message me.

15.06.2025 13:19 — 👍 0 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0

Moon landings remain hard; and a truly comprehensive testing regime non-optional for success. - Space Brew Note the following about four recent Moon landing attempts. • ISRO attributes emphasis on demonstrating the lander system’s performance down to its specifics as the principal reason for Chandrayaan 3’s...

Moon landings remain hard; and a truly comprehensive testing regime non-optional for success. https://moonmehta.jatan.space/posts/moon-landings-remain-hard-and-a-truly-comprehensive-testing-regime-non-optional-for-success

12.06.2025 11:17 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Two new European Moon missions https://moonmehta.jatan.space/posts/two-new-european-moon-missions

11.06.2025 12:37 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Contrasting ispace’s communications with that of Intuitive Machines - Space Brew “Contrast ispace’s impeccable transparency with CLPS vendor Intuitive Machines. Despite both of them being publicly traded companies, ispace has transparently published mission objectives before launch as well as accepted outcomes...

Contrasting ispace’s communications with that of Intuitive Machines https://moonmehta.jatan.space/posts/contrasting-ispaces-communications-with-that-of-intuitive-machines

11.06.2025 12:21 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Moon Monday #228: The need for resilience in private lunar landing missions through expansive and collaborative testing ****Left:**** ispace Japan’s second Moon lander, named RESILIENCE, at JAXA’s Tsukuba Space Center pre-launch. Also seen integrated into the lander is ispace’s first rover TENACIOUS; ****Right:**** Our Earth as imaged by RESILIENCE from lunar orbit. Images: ispace ispace Japan’s second Moon lander

Another Moon lander has failed, and do I have some analysis on why companies building lunar missions need to expand their testing regime by collaborating not competing:
https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-228/ 🌗

10.06.2025 13:27 — 👍 0 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0

Moon Monday #228: The need for resilience in private lunar landing missions through expansive and collaborative testing https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-228/

09.06.2025 15:40 — 👍 1 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0

Yes, that’s awesome.

08.06.2025 14:53 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

An Indian is about to fly to the International Space Station.. https://moonmehta.jatan.space/posts/an-indian-is-about-to-fly-to-the-international-space-station

08.06.2025 14:45 — 👍 4 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0

Notable Chandrayaan updates from last month https://moonmehta.jatan.space/posts/notable-chandrayaan-updates-from-last-month

08.06.2025 07:49 — 👍 3 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0

NASA’s FY2026 budget request cancels four Moon projects: Oxygen extractor, Decadal science efforts, a... https://moonmehta.jatan.space/posts/nasas-fy2026-budget-request-cancels-four-moon-projects-oxygen-extractor-decadal-science-efforts-an-advanced-instruments-program-and-themis-artemis-spacecraft

06.06.2025 16:53 — 👍 2 🔁 1 💬 1 📌 0

A note on how ISRO is approaching PSLV’s recent failure - Space Brew Earlier this week I explained in Indian Space Progress #28 how the recent failure of ISRO’s PSLV rocket could trigger multiple mission delays for India. In contains a note on how...

A note on how ISRO is approaching PSLV’s recent failure https://moonmehta.jatan.space/posts/a-note-on-how-isro-is-approaching-pslvs-recent-failure

06.06.2025 14:29 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Resources to follow ispace’s second Moon landing attempt - Space Brew 2. Watch the livestream on June 5 an hour prior to the aforementioned landing time of 19:17 UTC 4. Check ispace’s News blog and subscribe to it in an RSS reader ...

Resources to follow ispace’s second Moon landing attempt https://moonmehta.jatan.space/posts/resources-to-follow-ispaces-second-moon-landing-attempt

05.06.2025 12:06 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

The failure of ISRO’s PSLV rocket could trigger multiple mission delays for India: https://jatan.space/indian-space-issue-28/

05.06.2025 07:53 — 👍 1 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0

A pressing PSLV rocket failure and orbital congestion to brood over | Indian Space Progress #28 https://jatan.space/indian-space-issue-28/

04.06.2025 15:11 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

The Trump administration wants to move CLPS lunar landers away from NASA’s Science Mission Directorate - Space Brew Of the many cuts in NASA’s FY2026 budget proposed by the US Trump administration: “NASA wants to move the CLPS program, wherein private lunar landers carry the agency’s payloads to...

The Trump administration wants to move CLPS lunar landers away from NASA’s Science Mission Directorate https://moonmehta.jatan.space/posts/the-trump-administration-wants-to-move-clps-lunar-landers-away-from-nasas-science-mission-directorate

04.06.2025 12:06 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Jatan’s Space Blog of Jatan Mehta, a globally published independent space writer, author of Moon Monday, and invited speaker.

🚨 Final reminder: If you’re following me here, my space blog jatan.space is now natively on Bluesky!

Follow @moonmehta.jatan.space.ap.brid.gy for Moon Mondays, Indian Space pieces, and my other space articles as I publish them. 🌙

04.06.2025 08:39 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

JM

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