A big week for lunar exploration

If all goes as planned – and it’s space flight so that’s a big IF – next week will be a big week for lunar exploration.  First off, on Monday we’ll see the landing of Luna 25.  Luna 25 is the first Russian lunar mission since Luna 24 in 1976, back when it was still the Soviet Union.  Then on Wednesday, India’s Vikram lander will land, which is part of the Chandrayaan-3 mission.  If successful, India will become only the fourth entity to land something on the moon, after the Soviet Union’s Luna 9 in February 1966, the US’s Surveyor 1 in June 1966, and China’s Chang’e 3 in December 2013.  And we hopefully won’t have to wait another decade for the fifth entity, because on Friday/Saturday Japan will launch the SLIM mission, which will land in a couple of weeks or months (I couldn’t quickly find any info on how soon it would land.) So in six days we could have two landings and the launch of another lander.  And there’s like a dozen more lunar missions scheduled to launch by the end of 2024.  I wish all the teams luck.

Random Story – The burning bush

This is just an odd little story from my life.

Years ago, I lived in this apartment complex.  I’m a bit of a night owl, and I would often take a walk around the complex late at night/early morning to clear my head or think through some story elements.  Anyway, one night, it was probably around midnight, I turned a corner and started down this parking area, and I saw something flickering at the end.  It took a bit to figure out, but I eventually realized that one of the decorative bushes at the entrance to the parking area was on fire.  It might not have been that big a deal, but this bush was right next to an electric pole. 

Now, cell phones were a thing then, but I didn’t have one.  So I scrambled for several minutes trying to find someone with a light on.  I eventually found an apartment, and told them to call the fire department because a bush was on fire.  Now, their apartment didn’t face the fire, and I think English was their second language, but I got the point across. 

I went back to the bush, and a couple guys joined me.  By now, the fire had mostly burned out, and they stomped most of it out.  A couple minutes later, a cop pulled in, and he had a fire extinguisher and put it out.  He figured someone threw their cigarette in there and it was dry enough to burn, although it might have been smoldering for hours.  A couple minutes later, a firetruck pulled in, and they gave it a quick hose down to really make sure it was out.

So that’s my story of encountering a burning bush.