Moon News

September 25, 2023

Top Headlines

New Findings Suggest Moon May Have Less Water Than Previously Thought

Sep. 18, 2023 — A team recently calculated that most of the Moon's permanently shadowed regions (PSRs) are at most around 3.4 billion years old and can contain relatively young deposits of water ice. Water resources are considered key for sustainable exploration of ...

Electrons from Earth May Be Forming Water on the Moon

Sep. 14, 2023 — Planetary scientists have discovered that high energy electrons in Earth's plasma sheet are contributing to weathering processes on the Moon's surface and, importantly, the electrons may have aided the formation of water on the lunar ...

Despite Doubts from Quantum Physicists: Einstein's Theory of Relativity Reaffirmed

July 13, 2023 — One of the most basic assumptions of fundamental physics is that the different properties of mass -- weight, inertia and gravitation -- always remain the same in relation to each other. Although all ...

Why the Day Is 24 Hours Long: Astrophysicists Reveal Why Earth's Day Was a Constant 19.5 Hours for Over a Billion Years

July 5, 2023 — Astrophysicists have revealed how the slow and steady lengthening of Earth's day caused by the tidal pull of the moon was halted for over a billion years. They show that from approximately two ...

Latest Headlines

updated 5:04pm EDT

Large Sub-Surface Granite Formation Signals Ancient Volcanic Activity on Moon's Dark Side

July 5, 2023 — A large formation of granite discovered below the lunar surface likely was formed from the cooling of molten lava that fed a volcano or volcanoes ...

Liquid Nitrogen Spray Could Clean Up Stubborn Moon Dust

Feb. 28, 2023 — A liquid nitrogen spray can remove almost all of the simulated moon dust from a space suit, potentially solving what is a significant challenge for future moon-landing ...

Space Dust as Earth's Sun Shield

Feb. 8, 2023 — Dust launched from the moon's surface or from a space station positioned between Earth and the sun could reduce enough solar radiation to mitigate the impacts of climate ...

Researchers Create Lunar Regolith Bricks That Could Be Used to Construct Artemis Base Camp

Oct. 25, 2022 — As part of NASA's Artemis program to establish a long-term presence on the moon, it aims to build an Artemis base camp that includes a modern lunar ...

Collision May Have Formed the Moon in Mere Hours, Simulations Reveal

Oct. 4, 2022 — Most theories claim the Moon formed out of the debris of a collision between the Earth and an object about the size of Mars, called Theia, coalescing in orbit over months or years. A new simulation ...

Lunar Glass Shows Moon Asteroid Impacts Mirrored on Earth

Sep. 29, 2022 — A research team has found asteroid impacts on the Moon millions of years ago coincided precisely with some of the largest meteorite impacts on Earth, such as the one that wiped out the ...

Breaking in a New Planet

Aug. 18, 2022 — Impacts affect the porosity and structure of moons and planets more dramatically than scientists suspected, increasing their potential habitability for life. Studying how those impacts affect ...

One More Clue to the Moon's Origin

Aug. 10, 2022 — Researchers discover the first definitive proof that the Moon inherited indigenous noble gases from the Earth's mantle. The discovery represents a significant piece of the puzzle towards ...

Scientists Discover Places on the Moon Where It's Always 'Sweater Weather'

July 26, 2022 — A team led by planetary scientists has discovered shady locations within pits on the moon that always hover around a comfortable 63 degrees Fahrenheit. The pits, and caves to which they may lead, ...

Global Map of Lunar Hydrogen: Data Confirms Role Water Played in Moon's Formation

July 20, 2022 — Using data collected over two decades ago, scientists have compiled the first complete map of hydrogen abundances on the Moon's surface. The map ...

Earlier Headlines

Summaries
Headlines

Liftoff! NASA's Artemis I Mega Rocket Launches Orion to Moon

Nov. 16, 2022 — Following a successful launch of NASA's Space Launch System (SLS), the most powerful rocket in the world, the agency's Orion spacecraft is on its way to the Moon as part of the Artemis ...

Porosity of the Moon's Crust Reveals Bombardment History

July 7, 2022 — Researchers find that, early in its history, the moon was highly porous, which was likely a result of early, massive impacts that shattered much of the crust. They reached their conclusions with ...

Scientists Release First Analysis of Rocks Plucked from Speeding Asteroid

June 9, 2022 — Scientists have now begun to announce the first results from the analysis of a handful of dirt that Hayabusa2 managed to scoop off the surface of a speeding asteroid. What they found suggests that ...

Astronauts May One Day Drink Water from Ancient Moon Volcanoes

May 17, 2022 — If any humans had been alive 2 to 4 billion years ago, they may have looked up and seen a sliver of frost on the moon's surface. Some of that ice may still be hiding in craters on the lunar ...

A First: Scientists Grow Plants in Soil from the Moon

May 12, 2022 — Scientists have, for the first time, grown plants in soil from the Moon. They used soil collected during the Apollo 11, 12 and 17 missions. In their experiment, the researchers wanted to know if ...

Lunar Soil Has the Potential to Generate Oxygen and Fuel

May 5, 2022 — Soil on the moon contains active compounds that can convert carbon dioxide into oxygen and fuels, scientists report. They are now exploring whether lunar resources can be used to facilitate human ...

Earth's Atmosphere May Be Source of Some Lunar Water

Apr. 27, 2022 — Hydrogen and oxygen ions escaping from Earth's upper atmosphere and combining on the moon could be one of the sources of the known lunar water and ice, according to new ...

Differences Between the Moon’s Near and Far Sides Linked to Colossal Ancient Impact

Apr. 8, 2022 — New research shows how the impact that created the Moon's South Pole -- Aitken basin is linked to the stark contrast in composition and appearance between the two sides of the ...

Arctic Simulation of Moon-Like Habitat Shows Wellbeing Sessions Can Improve Mental Health in Extreme Isolation

Apr. 6, 2022 — Researchers are investigating the psychological impact of social isolation in harsh environments, such as on the ...

Predicting the Efficiency of Oxygen-Evolving Electrolysis on the Moon and Mars

Feb. 8, 2022 — Scientists have today provided more insight into the possibility of establishing a pathway to generate oxygen for humans to potentially call the Moon or Mars 'home' for extended periods of ...

New Explanation for Moon’s Half-Century Magnetic Mystery

Jan. 13, 2022 — A new study reveals how the diminutive Moon could have been an occasional magnetic powerhouse early in its history, a question that has confounded researchers since NASA's Apollo program began ...

'Slushy' Magma Ocean Led to Formation of the Moon’s Crust

Jan. 13, 2022 — Scientists have shown how the freezing of a 'slushy' ocean of magma may be responsible for the composition of the Moon's ...

Engineers Test an Idea for a New Hovering Rover

Dec. 21, 2021 — MIT aerospace engineers are testing a concept for a hovering rover that levitates by harnessing the moon's natural charge. The design uses tiny ion beams to charge up the vehicle and the surface ...

Advanced Analysis of Apollo Sample Illuminates Moon’s Evolution

Dec. 14, 2021 — Sophisticated analysis of a rock sample taken from the Moon during the Apollo 17 mission revealed new information about the complex cooling and evolutionary history of the Moon. The diffusion ...

Lunar Radar Data Uncovers New Clues About Moon’s Ancient Past

Dec. 1, 2021 — The dusty surface of the moon -- immortalized in images of Apollo astronauts' lunar footprints -- formed as the result of asteroid impacts and the harsh environment of space breaking down rock ...

Carbon Dioxide Cold Traps on the Moon Are Confirmed for the First Time

Nov. 15, 2021 — After decades of uncertainty, researchers have confirmed the existence of lunar carbon dioxide cold traps that could potentially contain solid carbon dioxide. The discovery will likely have a major ...

Near-Earth Asteroid Might Be a Lost Fragment of the Moon

Nov. 11, 2021 — Near-Earth asteroid Kamo`oalewa could be a fragment of our ...

A 5-Sigma Standard Model Anomaly Is Possible

Oct. 13, 2021 — One of the best chances for proving beyond-the-standard-model physics relies on something called the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) matrix. The standard model insists that the CKM matrix, which ...

Chang'e-5 Samples Reveal Key Age of Moon Rocks

Oct. 7, 2021 — A lunar probe launched by the Chinese space agency recently brought back the first fresh samples of rock and debris from the moon in more than 40 years. Now an international team of scientists has ...

Peering Into the Moon's Shadows With AI

Sep. 23, 2021 — Permanently shadowed lunar craters contain water ice, but are difficult to image. A machine learning algorithm now provides sharper ...

Wednesday, November 16, 2022