Items tagged with moon
Chinese researchers have had their first look at rock samples brought back from the far side of the Moon by its Chang’e-6 mission. The mission was China’s second excursion to the Moon’s far side, after the Chang’e-4 mission in 2019.
The Chang’e-6 spacecraft landed on the Moon’s far side in June of this year, touching...
Read more...
Be sure not to miss the last supermoon of the year, known as the Beaver Moon, this week. This will be the last of four consecutive supermoons, and will be slightly brighter than the first of the four in mid-August.
The term supermoon, coined in 1979, refers to when a full moon coincides with the Moon’s closest...
Read more...
Uranus, the seventh planet from the Sun, which was viewed up close by the Voyager 2 spacecraft in 1986, has been the focus of more than a few studies over the last few decades. One of the more recent studies included planetary scientists clearing up a perplexing problem surrounding the planet’s weaker-than-anticipated...
Read more...
The devil may wear Prada, but NASA is taking it to the moon, and possibly Mars. Axiom Space revealed the first flight design of the Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit (AxEMU) spacesuit, which will be worn by astronauts aboard NASA’s Artemis III mission, at the International Astronautical Congress in Milan, Italy, this...
Read more...
October’s full moon will be a “Supermoon,” also known as the Hunter’s Moon, and is the third of four consecutive supermoons this year. Other names for the upcoming Supermoon are the Travel Moon, the Dying Grass Moon, or the Sanguine or Blood Moon.
According to NASA, the name Hunter’s Moon goes as far back as the...
Read more...
As NASA gets closer to returning humans to the Moon, the space agency is also looking at ways of providing shelter for future astronauts on the lunar surface for long-term missions. One idea that is regaining momentum involves feeding fungal species to build materials that would be stronger than concrete and provide...
Read more...
The 2024 annular solar eclipse is happening tomorrow and will include a ring of fire. While the path of the eclipse will take it mainly through the Southern Hemisphere, those north will still be able to watch via livestream.
Back in early April of this year, many across North America took time out of their busy day...
Read more...
ATLAS, an asteroid impact early warning system in Hawaii, spotted a small asteroid that will temporarily orbit Earth for the next two months. Asteroid 2024 PT5 is a 10-meter (33-feet) wide space rock that is expected to come as close as 1 million kilometers of Earth in an orbital path that resembles a...
Read more...
The month of September is chock full of celestial goodness, with a partial lunar eclipse highlighting the festivities. September’s full moon, also called the Harvest moon, will also be a Supermoon, meaning it will appear ever so slightly bigger and brighter than the average full moon.
As NASA and the US government...
Read more...
As NASA and other space agencies continue working toward sedning humans back to the moon, the agency’s Space Communication and Navigation (SCaN) program is leading efforts to create a coordinated lunar time standard. The goal is to enable a future lunar ecosystem that could be scalable to other locations in our solar...
Read more...
A Kobe University researcher has confirmed that an asteroid which struck Jupiter’s moon Ganymede was about 20 times larger than the one that ended the age of the dinosaurs on Earth. According to the new study, when the asteroid struck Ganymede, the largest moon in the solar system, its axis shifted because of the...
Read more...
Intuitive Machines will receive $116.9 million to deliver six NASA payloads to the Moon’s South Pole in 2027. The new set of science experiments and technology demonstrations are part of the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, including support for missions with crew on the lunar surface.
The lunar...
Read more...
New findings by India’s Chandrayaan lunar probe seem to validate an idea called the Lunar Magma Ocean theory concerning how the Moon formed. Scientists have hypothesized that when the Moon formed some 4.5 billion years ago, it started to cool and a lighter mineral called anorthosite rose to the top, forming the Moon’s...
Read more...
Next week’s full Moon is a rare Supermoon, also referred to as a Blue Moon, Sturgeon Moon, or Dog Moon, among other names. The term “supermoon” was coined by astrologer Richard Nolle in 1979, referring to either a new or full Moon that occurs when the Moon is within 90% of its closest approach to Earth.
While the...
Read more...
Space company Honeybee has proposed a 100 meter tall tower that will potentially light the path for future NASA Artemis astronauts on the moon. The LUNARSABER (Lunar Utility Navigation with Advanced Remote Sensing and Autonomous Beaming for Energy Redistribution) tower is a deployable structure that integrates solar...
Read more...
New research by scientists at the Smithsonian Institute are proposing a plan to safeguard Earth’s endangered biodiversity by cryogenically preserving biological material on the moon. According to the research, the permanently shadowed craters on the moon's surface, or perhaps lunar underground caves, are cold enough...
Read more...
NASA has made the difficult decision to cancel its VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover) project amidst numerous launch delays and rising costs. The space agency added the increased costs would have also threatened to bring about the end of other Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS).
VIPER...
Read more...
A group of scientists using data from a 2010 NASA lunar mission believe they have confirmed the existence of an accessible rock tunnel beneath the lunar surface. The team analyzed a series of images from 2010 with recently developed complex signal processing technologies to come to their conclusion.
The surface of...
Read more...
Scientists have come up with a new theory about what is causing mysterious swirls on the Moon’s surface. The latest theory involves underground lava, magnetized rocks, and magnetic anomalies.
Lunar swirls have baffled astronomers and scientists since they were first discovered in the 1600s. Scientists believe these...
Read more...
As June brings the heat of summer, it also brings the Strawberry Moon, and the earliest summer solstice in 228 years. The last time the summer solstice arrived this early was in 1796, when it took place at 1:45pm ET on June 20.
The summer solstice will begin at 4:50pm EDT on Thursday, June 20 (today), and with it...
Read more...
China reported that its Chang’e 6 spacecraft landed on the far side of the Moon over the weekend. The spacecraft was reported to touch down in the South Pole-Aitken Basin, where it aims to collect precious rock and soil from the region.
If successful, the Chang’e 6 spacecraft will be the first ever to collect rock...
Read more...
NASA wants to build the first lunar railway system providing payload transport on the Moon. The autonomous railway system could be a vital part of building a sustainable lunar base in the 2030s.
It is no secret that NASA wants to create a lunar base as part of its Moon to Mars plan. The space agency also knows that...
Read more...
