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 Fri, 16 May 2008 16:05:01 EDT Fri, 16 May 2008 16:05:01 EDT 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/2008/05/080513104001.htm To prepare for a return to the moon, researchers are evaluating how dust deposits in the lungs in reduced gravity in order to assess the health risk of long-term exposure to lunar particles. The findings will influence the design of lunar bases and could also provide benefits for health care on Earth, such as improved delivery of aerosol medications to the lungs. Wed, 14 May 2008 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080513104001.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080508091605.htm Imagine yourself hip-to-hip, shoulder-to-shoulder, inside a room the size of a walk-in closet for eight hours with five people you just met. Does that make you sweat? Or maybe make your breathing a little more animated? For three weeks, 23 volunteers dedicated time to do just that -- sweat and breathe -- inside a test chamber so NASA scientists at Johnson Space Center in Houston could measure the amount of moisture and carbon dioxide absorbed by a new system being developed for future space vehicles. The system is designed to control carbon dioxide and humidity inside a crew capsule to make air breathable and living space more comfortable. Thu, 08 May 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080508091605.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080420123319.htm Behold the full moon. Ancient craters and frozen lava seas lie motionless under an airless sky of profound quiet. It's a serene, slow-motion world where even a human footprint may last millions of years. Nothing ever seems to happen there, right? Wrong. Scientists have realized that something happens every month when the moon gets a lashing from Earth's magnetic tail. Mon, 21 Apr 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080420123319.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080411092032.htm NASA is preparing to send a small spacecraft to the moon in 2011 to assess the lunar atmosphere and the nature of dust lofted above the surface. Sun, 13 Apr 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080411092032.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080409231029.htm A new stereo view of Phobos, the larger and inner of Mars' two tiny moons, has been captured by a NASA spacecraft orbiting Mars. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter took two images of Phobos 10 minutes apart on March 23. Scientists combined the images for a stereo view. Thu, 10 Apr 2008 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080409231029.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080311124548.htm Scientists and engineers will study how to design a telescope on the moon for peering into the last unexplored epoch in the universe's history. There was an interval, now called the "Dark Ages," in which the Universe was unlit by any star. Sat, 15 Mar 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080311124548.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080227182956.htm In a car commercial, it would sound odd: active suspension, six-wheel drive with independent steering for each wheel, no doors, no windows, no seats and the only color it comes in is gold. But NASA's latest concept vehicle is meant to go way, way off-road -- as in 240,000 miles from the nearest pavement, driving on the moon. NASA is working to send astronauts to the moon by 2020 to set up a lunar outpost, where they will do scientific research and prepare for journeys to destinations like Mars. Fri, 29 Feb 2008 20:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080227182956.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080227182335.htm NASA has obtained the highest resolution terrain mapping to date of the moon's rugged south polar region, with a resolution to 20 meters per pixel. The imagery generated by the data has been incorporated into animation depicting the descent to the lunar surface of a future human lunar lander and a flyover of Shackleton Crater. Thu, 28 Feb 2008 20:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080227182335.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080211133105.htm People across the western hemisphere may be surprised to see a rust-coloured Moon in the sky on 21 February. Early that morning (the evening of the 20 February for observers in North and South America) will be this year's first and only total eclipse of the Moon. In a total lunar eclipse, the Earth, Sun and Moon are almost exactly in line and the Moon is on the opposite side of the Earth from the Sun. The Moon is full, moves into the shadow of the Earth and dims dramatically but usually remains visible, lit by sunlight that passes through the Earth's atmosphere. Stronger atmospheric scattering of blue light means that the light that reaches the lunar surface is predominantly red in colour so observers on Earth see a Moon that may be brick-coloured, rusty, blood red or sometimes dark grey, depending on terrestrial conditions. Thu, 14 Feb 2008 11:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080211133105.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080108113605.htm Scientists have detected the lowest frequency radar echo from the moon ever seen with earth-based receivers. In the lunar echo experiment a high power transmitter in 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. Thu, 10 Jan 2008 17:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080108113605.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080102093939.htm This New Year's Eve the Deep Impact team will again celebrate a holiday in a way that few can match, when their Deep Impact spacecraft "buzzes" the Earth on a flyby that marks the beginning of a more than two-and-a-half-year journey to comet Hartley 2. Thu, 03 Jan 2008 02:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080102093939.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071211094857.htm It has been 35 years since humans last walked on the moon, but there has been much recent discussion about returning, either for exploration or to stage a mission to Mars. However, there are concerns about potential radiation danger for astronauts during long missions on the lunar surface. New research indicates that Earth's magnetic field can provide some protection from radiation for humans on the moon, new research shows. Thu, 13 Dec 2007 14:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071211094857.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071212000831.htm At a Dec. 10 meeting of the American Geophysical Union, NASA's Associate Administrator for Science Alan Stern announced the selection of a new mission that will peer deep inside the moon to reveal its anatomy and history. The Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory, or Grail, mission is a part of NASA's Discovery Program. It will cost $375 million and is scheduled to launch in 2011. Grail will fly twin spacecraft in tandem orbits around the moon for several months to measure its gravity field in unprecedented detail. The mission also will answer longstanding questions about Earth's moon and provide scientists a better understanding of how Earth and other rocky planets in the solar system formed. Wed, 12 Dec 2007 08:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071212000831.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071205095322.htm A new map shows the geography and illumination of the lunar north pole. The lunar poles are very interesting for future science and exploration of the Moon mainly because of their exposure to sunlight. They display areas of quasi-eternal light, have a stable thermal environment and are close to dark areas that could host water ice – potential future lunar base sites. Thu, 06 Dec 2007 14:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071205095322.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071113085735.htm The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) have successfully performed the world's first high-definition image taking of an Earth-rise by the lunar explorer "KAGUYA" (SELENE), which was injected into a lunar orbit at an altitude of about 100 km on October 18, 2007. Wed, 14 Nov 2007 02:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071113085735.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071024115241.htm A bold new mission to the Moon was launched by the Chinese National Space Administration. Chang'e-1 blasted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, Sichuan, atop a Long March 3A rocket. This represents the first step in the Chinese ambition to land robotic explorers on the Moon before 2020. Thu, 25 Oct 2007 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071024115241.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070920145347.htm A robotic prospector is being built for NASA that can creep over rocky slopes and then anchor itself as a stable platform for drilling deep into extraterrestrial soils. Called "Scarab," this four-wheeled robot will never leave the Earth. But it will demonstrate technologies that a lunar rover will need to find concentrations of hydrogen, possibly water and other volatile chemicals on the moon that could be mined to produce fuel, water and air that are essential for supporting lunar outposts. Sun, 23 Sep 2007 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070920145347.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070914100357.htm The X PRIZE Foundation and Google Inc. announced on September 13 the Google Lunar X PRIZE, a robotic race to the Moon to win a $30 million prize purse. Private companies from around the world will compete to land a privately funded robotic rover on the Moon that is capable of completing several mission objectives, including roaming the lunar surface for at least 500 meters and sending video, images and data back to the Earth. Fri, 14 Sep 2007 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070914100357.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070914123848.htm Japan has successfully launched a new unmanned spacecraft to explore the Moon -- the largest lunar mission since the Apollo program. KAGUYA will investigate the entire moon in order to obtain information on its elemental and mineralogical composition, its geography, its surface and sub-surface structure, the remnant of its magnetic field, and its gravity field. Fri, 14 Sep 2007 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070914123848.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070822132131.htm Owing to SMART-1's high resolution and favorable illumination conditions during the satellite's scientific operations, data from Europe's lunar orbiter is helping put together a story linking geological and volcanic activity on the moon. Thu, 23 Aug 2007 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070822132131.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/06/070627100902.htm NASA has selected proposals, including two from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., for future lunar science activities. In addition, the agency has established two new programs that will enhance research made possible by the Vision for Space Exploration. The proposals and programs are part of an effort by NASA to develop new opportunities to conduct important science investigations during the planned renewal of human exploration of the moon. Thu, 28 Jun 2007 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/06/070627100902.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/06/070622115215.htm Think your job is tough? Can’t wait for summer vacation to “get away from it all?" In the not-too-distant future, some jobs will challenge workers placed far, far away from it all. On the moon, in fact. Depression, anxiety, and low productivity will characterize the lunar jobs of tomorrow, says Rutgers-Camden human resources scholar. Sun, 24 Jun 2007 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/06/070622115215.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/06/070620154940.htm Scientists have taken another step toward building a liquid telescope on the moon. Researchers have found a combination of materials that allows the creation of a highly reflective liquid mirror capable of functioning even under harsh lunar conditions. Thu, 21 Jun 2007 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/06/070620154940.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/05/070531104324.htm A European Science Foundation-led workshop sponsored by the European Space Agency has enabled 88 scientists from 11 European countries to agree on science goals for future Europe's planetary exploration program -- providing the continent with an ambitious roadmap to examine Mars and the moon. Fri, 01 Jun 2007 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/05/070531104324.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/05/070525200427.htm Global climate change is driven by an imbalance between incoming energy from the sun and outgoing energy from Earth. Without understanding the climate system's inputs and outputs---its so-called energy budget---it is impossible to tease out the relative contributions of natural and human-induced influences and to predict future climate, according to one at least one geophysicist. He proposes setting up a network of observatories on the moon dedicated to studying climate change on Earth. Sat, 26 May 2007 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/05/070525200427.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/03/070322110049.htm A method of processing lunar image data significantly improves how finely scientists can discern a key geochemical feature of the Moon's surface, a new study finds. Sun, 25 Mar 2007 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/03/070322110049.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/03/070319151522.htm NASA scientist Bill Cooke is shooting marbles and he's playing "keepsies." The prize won't be another player's marbles, but knowledge that will help keep astronauts safe when America returns to the Moon in the next decade. Cooke is firing quarter-inch diameter clear shooters -- Pyrex glass, to be exact -- at soil rather than at other marbles. And he has to use a new one on each round because every 16,000 mph (7 km/s) shot destroys his shooter. Mon, 19 Mar 2007 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/03/070319151522.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/03/070309103114.htm ESA's SMART-1 moon mission has become a bridge to the future of lunar science and exploration. Sun, 11 Mar 2007 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/03/070309103114.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/02/070212182849.htm Space suits for astronauts may get a new and better design following a University of Houston doctoral student's locomotion stability research. Melissa Scott-Pandorf is a fellow of the Texas Space Grant Consortium. Using a weight suspension system and info from hours of lunar moon walk video, she's researching how the space suit can be made more stable for easier movement. Fri, 23 Feb 2007 11:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/02/070212182849.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/02/070206131148.htm Light has been shed on the dark parts of the Moon with experiments by University of Edinburgh researchers simulating billions of years of lunar evolution. Wed, 07 Feb 2007 05:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/02/070206131148.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/02/070205130324.htm The success of NASA's plans for a permanent human outpost on the moon may depend on the availability of technology that exploits the moon's environment and natural resources to obtain essentials like electric power, according to an article in Chemical and Engineering News. Mon, 05 Feb 2007 17:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/02/070205130324.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/01/070124085052.htm NASA's twin STEREO (Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory) spacecraft, built and operated by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), in Laurel, Md., completed a series of complex maneuvers Sunday to position the spacecraft in their mission orbits. The spacecraft will be in position to produce the first 3-D images of the sun by April. Wed, 24 Jan 2007 11:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/01/070124085052.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/12/061204174522.htm NASA has unveiled the initial elements of the Global Exploration Strategy and a proposed U.S. lunar architecture to return humans to the moon. NASA's Lunar Architecture Team concluded that the most advantageous approach is to develop a solar-powered lunar base and to locate it near one of the poles of the moon. Mon, 04 Dec 2006 14:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/12/061204174522.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/11/061108154545.htm A fresh look at Apollo-era images combined with recent spectral data leads researchers to re-examine conventional wisdom. Several lines of evidence suggest that the moon may have seen eruptions of interior gasses as recently as one million years ago, rather than three billion years ago -- the date that has been most widely accepted. Thu, 09 Nov 2006 11:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/11/061108154545.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/10/061025184743.htm A better understanding of solar storms and how best to protect astronauts from space radiation is needed as NASA pushes toward manned missions to the moon and Mars in the coming decades, according to a new National Research Council report by a committee chaired by a University of Colorado at Boulder administrator. Mon, 30 Oct 2006 02:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/10/061025184743.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/10/061018150756.htm Using the highest resolution radar-signal images ever made of the moon -- images from the National Science Foundation's Arecibo Telescope in Arecibo, P.R., and the NSF's Robert C. Byrd Telescope in Green Bank, W.Va. -- planetary astronomers have found no evidence for ice in craters at the lunar south pole. Cornell University, Smithsonian Institution and Australian scientists report the findings in the latest Nature. Wed, 18 Oct 2006 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/10/061018150756.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/09/060908144658.htm Amid a bevy of international space exploration missions to the Moon, the Washington University Department of Earth and Planetary Science in Arts & Sciences and ShanDong University at WeiHai (SDU at WH) in Mainland China have agreed to cooperate on scientific research and joint training of students in the two institutions. Mon, 18 Sep 2006 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/09/060908144658.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/09/060914181246.htm Although last year's inclement weather resulted in fewer Antarctic meteorite recoveries than usual, scientists have recently discovered that one of the specimens is a rare breed -- a type of lunar meteorite seen only once before. Fri, 15 Sep 2006 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/09/060914181246.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/09/060911103731.htm Timing, location, detection of a flash and of ejected material, and a firework generated by the lunar impact of ESA's SMART-1, are the latest results gathered thanks to the ground observation campaign of this historical event. Mon, 11 Sep 2006 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/09/060911103731.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/09/060904142436.htm Right up to its final orbits, SMART-1 continued delivering valuable data, extending the mission's legacy as a technology and scientific success. Scientists and engineers met today at ESOC to review mission achievements including final AMIE camera images. Mon, 04 Sep 2006 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/09/060904142436.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/09/060903150333.htm Early Sunday morning, a small flash illuminated the surface of the Moon as the European Space Agency's SMART-1 spacecraft impacted onto the lunar soil, in the 'Lake of Excellence' region. The planned impact concluded a successful mission that, in addition to testing innovative space technology, had been conducting a thorough scientific exploration of the Moon for about a year and a half. Sun, 03 Sep 2006 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/09/060903150333.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060824222257.htm The European Space Agency's Smart-1 mission ends on September 3, 2006. Appropriately for such a successful mission, its final resting place will be an area of the Moon known as the "Lake of Excellence." During its 3-year lifespan, Europe's first mission to the Moon has advanced both lunar science and the technology that underpins it. Mon, 28 Aug 2006 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060824222257.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060819110802.htm An instrument on the European Space Agency's Moon mission SMART-1 has produced the first detection from orbit of calcium on the lunar surface. By doing this, the instrument has taken a step towards answering the old question: Did the Moon form from part of the Earth? Sat, 19 Aug 2006 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060819110802.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060814122740.htm SMART-1, the successful first European spacecraft to the Moon, is now about to end its exploration adventure, after almost sixteen months of lunar science investigations. Mon, 14 Aug 2006 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060814122740.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/05/060510093104.htm NASA will have two scientific instruments on India's maiden voyage to the moon. Tuesday, NASA Administrator Michael Griffin and his counterpart, Indian Space Research Organization Chairman G. Madhavan Nair, signed two Memoranda of Understanding in Bangalore, India, for cooperation on India's Chandrayaan-1 mission. Wed, 10 May 2006 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/05/060510093104.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/04/060412204158.htm New age measurements of lunar rocks returned by the Apollo space missions have revealed that a surprising number of the rocks show signs of melting about 3.9 billion years ago, suggesting that the moon -- and its nearby neighbor Earth -- were bombarded by a series of large meteorites at that time. Thu, 13 Apr 2006 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/04/060412204158.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/02/060210091105.htm Ohio State University planetary scientists have found the remains of ancient lunar impacts that may have helped create the surface feature commonly called the "man in the moon." Their study suggests that a large object hit the far side of the moon and sent a shock wave through the moon's core and all the way to the Earth-facing side. The crust recoiled -- and the moon bears the scars from that encounter even today. Fri, 10 Feb 2006 02:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/02/060210091105.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/12/051226100325.htm The European Space Agency's SMART-1 spacecraft has been surveying the Moon's surface in visible and near-infrared light using a new technique, never before tried in lunar orbit. Mon, 26 Dec 2005 05:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/12/051226100325.htm