http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/space_time/moon/ Moon News. Current science articles on the Moon. Read about the new lunar mission being planned, how the "Man In The Moon" was created, moon landing facts and more. Images. en-us Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:05:01 EST Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:05:01 EST 60 http://www.sciencedaily.com/images/logosmall.gif http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/space_time/moon/ For more science articles, visit ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090924123310.htm During flights simulating the moon's low gravity, researchers find that sifters can separate soil particles and produce the best feedstock for an oxygen generator. Scientists are designing and testing components of the generator, which would provide oxygen needed for a lunar or Martian outpost. Thu, 29 Oct 2009 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090924123310.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091015091605.htm The Moon is a big sponge that absorbs electrically charged particles given out by the Sun. These particles interact with the oxygen present in some dust grains on the lunar surface, producing water. This discovery, made by the ESA-ISRO instrument SARA onboard the Indian Chandrayaan-1 lunar orbiter, confirms how water is likely being created on the lunar surface. Mon, 19 Oct 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091015091605.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091009101945.htm NASA's Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, created twin impacts on the moon's surface early Friday in a search for water ice. Scientists will analyze data from the spacecraft's instruments to assess whether water ice is present. Fri, 09 Oct 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091009101945.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091008161908.htm At 7:30 a.m. EDT on Oct. 9, a two-ton rocket body will slam into a crater near the moon's south pole. By studying the resulting plume of gas and dust, scientists hope this grand experiment will confirm the presence of ice in permanently shadowed craters at the lunar poles. A NASA Goddard Space Flight Center visualization team previewed the lunar impact. Thu, 08 Oct 2009 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091008161908.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091006113003.htm Crashing a rocket into the Moon will create “one more dimple” on the lunar surface and could find water ice on Earth’s nearest neighbour, according to one expert. Tue, 06 Oct 2009 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091006113003.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091004020806.htm NASA has made a series of critical strides toward the development of new nuclear reactors the size of a trash can that could power a human outpost on the moon or Mars. Three recent tests at different NASA centers and a national lab have successfully demonstrated key technologies required for compact fission-based nuclear power plants for human settlements on other worlds. Sun, 04 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091004020806.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090928194449.htm NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center is testing a new robotic lunar lander test bed that will aid in the development of a new generation of multi-use landers for future robotic space exploration. Tue, 29 Sep 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090928194449.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090924112849.htm Twenty-eight times per second, engineers at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center fire a laser that travels about 250,000 miles to hit the minivan-sized Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft moving at nearly 3,600 miles per hour as it orbits the moon. Mon, 28 Sep 2009 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090924112849.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090925102055.htm The European Space Agency's SMART-1 team has released an image of the future impact site of NASA's Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS). LCROSS will search for water ice on the Moon by making two impacts into a crater named Cabeus A at the lunar South Pole. The impacts are scheduled for 11:30 and 11:34 am UT on 9 October 2009. Sun, 27 Sep 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090925102055.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090924141249.htm The discovery of large quantities of water on the moon will have very significant implications for human space exploration, according to a UK space expert. The findings by NASA were reportedly made after researchers examined data from three separate missions to the moon. Fri, 25 Sep 2009 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090924141249.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090924093559.htm In a discovery that promises to reinvigorate studies of the moon and potentially upend thinking of how it originated, scientists have found evidence of water molecules on the surface of the moon. Thu, 24 Sep 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090924093559.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090917131548.htm NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, launched on June 18 of this year, has begun its extensive exploration of the lunar environment and will return more data about the Moon than any previous mission. The Lyman-Alpha Mapping Project is an integral part of the LRO science investigation. LAMP uses a novel method to peer into the perpetual darkness of the Moon's so-called permanently shadowed regions. Tue, 22 Sep 2009 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090917131548.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090918102105.htm Over its ten months of operation, the Chandrayaan-1 X-ray Spectrometer (C1XS) has gathered data for a total of 30 solar flares, giving the most accurate measurements to date of magnesium, aluminium, silicon, calcium and iron in the lunar surface. Mon, 21 Sep 2009 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090918102105.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090917191609.htm NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), an unmanned mission to comprehensively map the entire moon, has returned its first data. One of the seven instruments aboard, the Diviner Lunar Radiometer Experiment, is making the first global survey of the temperature of the lunar surface while the spacecraft orbits some 31 miles above the moon. Sat, 19 Sep 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090917191609.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090903170011.htm Four months after the success of Apollo 11, NASA launched Apollo 12 in November 1969. Almost exactly 40 years later, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has seen the landing site. Fri, 04 Sep 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090903170011.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090819150521.htm Anyone who's vacationed in the mountains or lived on a farm knows that it's hard to get good internet access or a strong cell phone signal in a remote area. Communicating across great distances has always been a challenge. So when NASA engineers designed the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), they knew it would need an extraordinary communications system. Thu, 20 Aug 2009 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090819150521.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090804094140.htm A new image of Earth taken from 200 kilometers (124 miles) above the lunar surface was taken by the Moon Mineralogy Mapper, one of two NASA instruments onboard the Indian Space Research Organization's Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft. Thu, 06 Aug 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090804094140.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090720083419.htm When the lunar module took off from the surface of the moon 40 years ago Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were relying on 4 cubic tonnes of N2O4 — one of the most important rocket propellants ever developed — to return them to lunar orbit and rendezvous with the Apollo Command and Service Module. Mon, 20 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090720083419.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090717150244.htm The imaging system on board the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter recently had its first of many opportunities to photograph five of the six Apollo landing sites, just days before the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission. Sat, 18 Jul 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090717150244.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090717150254.htm A lunar geochemist says that there are still many answers to be gleaned from the moon rocks collected by the Apollo 11 astronauts on their historic moonwalk 40 years ago July 20. Sat, 18 Jul 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090717150254.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090715131556.htm Many of the objects found today in the asteroid belt located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter may have formed in the outermost reaches of the solar system, according to astronomers. Thu, 16 Jul 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090715131556.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090618124948.htm 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. Sun, 05 Jul 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090618124948.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090702170135.htm NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera has taken and received its first images of the Moon, kicking off the year-long mapping mission of Earth's nearest celestial neighbor. Fri, 03 Jul 2009 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090702170135.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090623235038.htm After a four and a half day journey from the Earth, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, has successfully entered orbit around the moon. Engineers at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., confirmed the spacecraft's lunar orbit insertion at 6:27 a.m. EDT Tuesday. Wed, 24 Jun 2009 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090623235038.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090623235413.htm The Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, successfully completed its most significant early mission milestone Tuesday with a lunar swingby and calibration of its science instruments. The satellite will search for water ice in a permanently shadowed crater at the moon's south pole. Wed, 24 Jun 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090623235413.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090621215329.htm A new lunar topography map with the highest resolution of the moon's rugged south polar region provides new information on some of our natural satellite's darkest inhabitants - permanently shadowed craters. Mon, 22 Jun 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090621215329.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090618230936.htm NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has successfully launched aboard an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The satellite will relay more information about the lunar environment than any other previous mission to the moon. Fri, 19 Jun 2009 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090618230936.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090618235903.htm NASA successfully launched the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, on a mission to search for water ice in a permanently shadowed crater at the moon's south pole. The satellite lifted off on an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., with a companion mission, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO. Fri, 19 Jun 2009 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090618235903.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090618093244.htm Planetary scientist Mark Robinson leads a team of college researchers and grad students for this week's scheduled NASA launch of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. For nearly two years, the team has been preparing their scientific instrument, one of seven from institutions around the nation and globe that will return lunar imagery, topography, temperatures, and more. Wed, 17 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090618093244.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090608131158.htm Researchers have developed a new method for using computer graphics to simulate and render an accurate visualization of a lunar eclipse. The model uses celestial geometry of the sun, Earth, and moon, along with data for the Earth's atmosphere and the moon's peculiar optical properties to create picture-perfect images of lunar eclipses. Wed, 10 Jun 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090608131158.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090511122616.htm Alien creatures are the least of NASA's worries when it comes to moon travel. There are several potential threats to future missions -- with space radiation at the top of the list. Now scientists have developed a "blanket" of sorts that covers lunar outposts -- the astronauts' living quarters -- to provide astronauts protection against radiation while also generating and storing power. Thu, 14 May 2009 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090511122616.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090430121419.htm NASA will send a robotic scout, called the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), to orbit the moon in 2009. LRO will gather crucial data on the lunar environment that will help astronauts prepare for long-duration lunar expeditions. Thu, 07 May 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090430121419.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090417161508.htm In the 1960s and 1970s, the Apollo Moon Program struggled with a minuscule, yet formidable enemy: sticky lunar dust. Four decades later, a new study reveals that forces compelling lunar dust to cling to surfaces -- ruining scientific experiments and endangering astronauts' health -- change during the lunar day with the elevation of the sun. Tue, 21 Apr 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090417161508.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090409153020.htm Two places on opposite sides of Earth may hold the secret to how the moon was born. NASA's twin Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) spacecraft are about to enter these zones, known as the L4 and L5 Lagrangian points, each centered about 93 million miles away along Earth's orbit. Fri, 10 Apr 2009 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090409153020.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090225132353.htm Small robots the size of riding mowers could prepare a safe landing site for NASA's Moon outpost, according to a NASA-sponsored study. Mon, 02 Mar 2009 23:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090225132353.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090212141201.htm The most detailed map of the Moon ever created has revealed never-before-seen craters at the lunar poles. The map is also revealing secrets about the Moon's interior -- and hinting about Mars's interior as well. Mon, 23 Feb 2009 17:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090212141201.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090218133019.htm NASA's Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, known as LCROSS, is enroute from Northrop Grumman's facility in Redondo Beach, Calif., to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida in preparation for a spring launch. The satellite's primary mission is to search for water ice on the moon in a permanently shadowed crater near one of the lunar poles. Wed, 18 Feb 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090218133019.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090123075626.htm The C1XS X-ray camera has successfully detected its first X-ray signature from the Moon. This is the first step in its mission to reveal the origin and evolution of our Moon by mapping its surface composition. Sun, 25 Jan 2009 14:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090123075626.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090119091827.htm Using a NASA radar flying aboard India's Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, scientists are getting their first look inside the moon's coldest, darkest craters. Tue, 20 Jan 2009 11:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090119091827.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090114142824.htm A technology development engine that may help NASA safely return astronauts to the lunar surface has successfully completed its third round of testing. The goal of these tests is to reduce risk and advance technology for a reliable and robust rocket engine that could enable America's next moon landing. Fri, 16 Jan 2009 17:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090114142824.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090114110948.htm This year the world celebrates the International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009), marking the 400th anniversary of the first drawings of celestial objects through a telescope. This first has long been attributed to Galileo Galilei, the Italian who went on to play a leading role in the 17th century scientific revolution. But astronomers and historians in the UK are keen to promote a lesser-known figure, English polymath Thomas Harriot, who made the first drawing of the Moon through a telescope several months earlier, in July 1609. Thu, 15 Jan 2009 20:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090114110948.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090105090553.htm NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, has successfully completed thermal vacuum testing, which simulates the extreme hot, cold and airless conditions of space LRO will experience after launch. This milestone concludes the orbiter's environmental test program at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Mon, 12 Jan 2009 17:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090105090553.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090106145348.htm Dwellings in colonies on the moon one day may be built with new, highly durable bricks developed by students from the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech. Thu, 08 Jan 2009 05:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090106145348.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081227215817.htm Different wavelengths of light provide new information about the Orientale Basin region of the moon in a new composite image taken by NASA's Moon Mineralogy Mapper, a guest instrument aboard the Indian Space Research Organization's Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft. Mon, 29 Dec 2008 02:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081227215817.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081218122206.htm Passage graves are mysterious barrows from the Stone Age. New research indicates that the Stone Age graves' orientation in the landscape could have an astronomical explanation. The Danish passage graves are most likely oriented according to the path of the full moon, perhaps even according to the full moon immediately before a lunar eclipse. Wed, 24 Dec 2008 20:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081218122206.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081217192747.htm Scientists are developing a mathematical formula to study the rotation of the moon, taking into account its structure, which comprises a solid external layer and a fluid internal core. Their work is part of an international study, which has come up with an improved theoretical model about the orbital and rotational dynamics of the Earth and its satellite, and which the scientific community will be able to use to obtain more precise measurements in order to aid future NASA missions to the moon. Sat, 20 Dec 2008 14:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081217192747.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081217192743.htm Scientists have discovered where they believe would be the best place to find ice on the moon. Thu, 18 Dec 2008 23:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081217192743.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081124131241.htm The Indian Space Research Organization's lunar orbiter Chandrayaan-1 released a probe that impacted close to the lunar south pole on Nov. 14. Following this, the instruments on the spacecraft are being switched on to get the science observations started. Sat, 29 Nov 2008 08:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081124131241.htm