Moon probe returns first images Posted: 5 months ago by AutumnLotus
The US space agency's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft has returned its first images since reaching the Moon on 23 June.
The probe's two cameras returned images of a region in the lunar highlands south of Mare Nubium (Sea of Clouds).
Comments: 0 Score: [-] 343 [+].
Idea Hatched to Grow First Flower on the Moon Posted: 8 months ago by AutumnLotus
A lunar bouquet of flowers could greet astronauts who next set foot on the moon.
Odyssey Moon, a team competing for a $30 million purse in the Google Lunar X Prize contest, officially joined forces with another private space firm Friday to deliver the first greenhouse to the moon as part the "Lunar Oasis" project.
Comments: 0 Score: [-] 333 [+].
Amazing footage of lunar probe's final moments before it crashes into Moon Posted: 5 months ago by AutumnLotus
Footage showing the dramatic descent of a probe minutes before it crashes into the surface of the Moon has been released by the Japanese space agency.
The final moments of the Kaguya lunar probe were caught by its on-board high-definition camera as it hurtled downwards on June 11 and as it fell the images were beamed back to Earth.
Comments: 0 Score: [-] 289 [+].
Eclipse Seen by Moon Probe as Earth Blocks Sun Posted: 9 months ago by AutumnLotus
This is the first time that this phenomenon was shot from the moon.
Japan's Kaguya lunar orbiter has beamed home a spectacular movie of Earth eclipsing the sun as seen from the moon.
Comments: 2 Score: [-] 207 [+].
Is the Apollo 11 Moon Landing Flag Still Standing? Posted: 4 months ago by AutumnLotus
A plan to photograph the historic lunar locations with NASA's new Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) should be a boon to lunar archaeologists who aim to solve some longstanding mysteries and also get a historic-landmark designation for the Apollo 11 touchdown site.
Comments: 4 Score: [-] 375 [+].
Debate Rages Over Moon Water Posted: 5 months ago by AutumnLotus
There have been raging debates over the years as to whether there is frozen water on the moon or not. Soon two NASA spacecraft, a lunar spycraft and a kamikaze probe, will help answer the question by peering into the permanent darkness of craters at the moon's south pole.
Comments: 0 Score: [-] 322 [+].
IBEX spacecraft detects fast neutral hydrogen coming from the moon Posted: 5 months ago by AutumnLotus
NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) spacecraft has made the first observations of very fast hydrogen atoms coming from the moon, following decades of speculation and searching for their existence.
Comments: 1 Score: [-] 278 [+].
Scientists detect lowest frequency radar echo from the moon Posted: 2 years ago by AutumnLotus
A team of scientists has detected the lowest frequency radar echo off the moon ever picked up by Earth-based receivers. In the lunar echo experiment, high power transmitter, located near Gakona, Alaska, launched high power radio waves toward the moon. The reflected signal, weakened because of the long distance to the moon and back, was detected by receiving antennas in New Mexico.
Comments: 0 Score: [-] 283 [+].
Water Discovered in Moon Samples Posted: 1 year ago by AutumnLotus
Water has been found conclusively for the first time inside ancient moon samples brought back by Apollo astronauts. The discovery may force scientists to rethink the lunar past and future, although uncertainty remains about how much water exists and whether future explorers could extract it.
Comments: 2 Score: [-] 483 [+].
Planet-Hunting Spacecraft Beams Home First Images Posted: 7 months ago by AutumnLotus
The planet-seeking Kepler spacecraft has beamed home its first images of a patch of the sky where NASA hopes to find Earth-like planets circling distant, alien stars.
Comments: 2 Score: [-] 272 [+].
The Truth Behind This Month's Blue Moon Posted: 3 years ago by AutumnLotus
Thursday, May 31 brings us the second of two full Moons for North Americans this month. Some almanacs and calendars assert that when two full Moons occur within a calendar month, that the second full Moon is called the "Blue Moon."
Comments: 3 Score: [-] 158 [+].
Lunar Leftovers: How the Moon Became a Trash Can Posted: 7 months ago by bingo
We normally associate space itself as being littered with the detritus of our nascent attempts at interstellar travel. The moon, however, is chock full of the remains of our various attempts to explore it. So, what exactly is up there? Moreover, does any of the stuff on the moon still work or is it just one giant cosmic trash can?
Comments: 1 Score: [-] 192 [+].
Total Eclipse of the Moon - February 20, 2008 Posted: 2 years ago by AutumnLotus
A total eclipse of the Moon occurs during the night of Wednesday, February 20/21, 2008. The entire event is visible from South America and most of North America (on Feb. 20) as well as Western Europe, Africa, and western Asia (on Feb. 21). During a total lunar eclipse, the Moon's disk can take on a dramatically colorful appearance from bright orange to blood red to dark brown and (rarely) very dark gray.
Comments: 7 Score: [-] 368 [+].
First Look Inside Dark Moon Craters Posted: 10 months ago by AutumnLotus
Using a NASA radar flying aboard India's Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, scientists are getting their first look inside the moon's coldest, darkest craters, where some suspect ice may be hiding.
Comments: 0 Score: [-] 155 [+].
Japanese moon probe shoots first HDTV footage of Earth Posted: 2 years ago by mitzuzake
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and public broadcaster NHK have succeeded in capturing their first high-definition video of Earth from the Kaguya lunar explorer. The video isn't available for download yet, but they do have a beautiful preview image.
Comments: 0 Score: [-] 189 [+].
KAGUYA records lunar surface in high def Posted: 2 years ago by AutumnLotus
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) have successfully performed the world's first high-definition image taking by the lunar explorer KAGUYA, which was injected into a lunar orbit at an altitude of about 100 km on October 18, 2007.
Comments: 1 Score: [-] 215 [+].
First liquid water may have been spotted on Mars Posted: 9 months ago by AutumnLotus
NASA's Phoenix lander may have captured the first images of liquid water on Mars - droplets that apparently splashed onto the spacecraft's leg during landing, according to some members of the Phoenix team.
Comments: 3 Score: [-] 398 [+].
Apollo 8 - Round The Moon 40 Years Ago Today Posted: 11 months ago by pocksucket
On December 24t, 1968, Apollo 8 Orbited The Moon for the first time, carrying Frank Borman, James Lovell and William Anders where no man had gone before. Boldly.
Comments: 2 Score: [-] 314 [+].
Earth's Magnetic Field Does Strange Things to the Moon Posted: 2 years ago by AutumnLotus
NASA-supported scientists have realized that something does happen every month when the Moon gets a lashing from Earth's magnetic tail. "Earth's magnetotail extends well beyond the orbit of the Moon and, once a month, the Moon orbits through it," says Tim Stubbs. "This can have consequences ranging from lunar 'dust storms' to electrostatic discharges."
Comments: 0 Score: [-] 427 [+].
Viewer's Guide: Total Lunar Eclipse Feb. 20 Posted: 2 years ago by AutumnLotus
On Wednesday night, Feb. 20, for the third time in the past year, the moon will become completely immersed in the Earth's shadow, resulting in a total lunar eclipse. Update on this.
Comments: 2 Score: [-] 405 [+].
Happy Birthday, ‘Earthrise’ Posted: 11 months ago by muppet
Forty years ago, the Apollo 8 astronauts, the first humans to orbit the Moon, were taken by surprise. After three orbits spent photographing the lunar surface, Frank Borman shifted the orientation of the capsule to see the horizon. Suddenly, Bill Anders realized he was seeing the home planet hovering over the lunar horizon in what was, in essence, the first human-witnessed “Earthrise.”
Comments: 1 Score: [-] 257 [+].