ScienceDaily: Lunar News

Native Ohioans' speaking patterns help scientists decipher famous moon landing quote

Thu, 30 May 2013 15:28:28 EDT

Speech scientists and psychologists discuss a novel approach to deciphering Armstrong’s famous moon landing quote.

One of the moon's mysteries solved: Origin of mascon basins

Thu, 30 May 2013 14:20:20 EDT

A mystery of the moon that imperiled astronauts and spacecraft on lunar missions has been solved. Large concentrations of mass lurk on the lunar surface that can change the gravity field and either pull a spacecraft in or push it off course. Scientists have determined the origin of these mass concentrations.

Nine-year-old Mars rover passes 40-year-old record

Fri, 17 May 2013 12:09:09 EDT

While Apollo 17 astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt visited Earth's moon for three days in December 1972, they drove their mission's Lunar Roving Vehicle 19.3 nautical miles (22.210 statute miles or 35.744 kilometers). That was the farthest total distance for any NASA vehicle driving on a world other than Earth until yesterday.

New craters abound: Mars camera reveals hundreds of impacts each year

Wed, 15 May 2013 16:50:50 EDT

Taking before and after pictures of the Martian terrain, researchers have identified nearly 250 fresh impact craters on the Red Planet. The results provide scientists with a better yardstick to estimate how frequently craters are blasted on Mars, allowing them to assess recently formed features with greater accuracy.

Water on Moon, Earth came from same primitive meteorites

Thu, 09 May 2013 14:21:21 EDT

The water found on the moon, like that on Earth, came from small meteorites called carbonaceous chondrites in the first 100 million years or so after the solar system formed, researchers from have found.

Moon and Earth have common water source

Thu, 09 May 2013 14:20:20 EDT

New research finds that water inside the moon's mantle comes from the same source as water on Earth. The Moon is thought to have formed after a giant impact to a still-forming Earth 4.5 million years ago. These new findings suggest that Earth may have had water at the time of that impact, and some of that water may have been transferred to the moon.

Craters on the moon: Pre-existing mineralogy may survive lunar impacts

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 15:01:01 EDT

Large impacts on the Moon can form wide craters and turn surface rock liquid. Geophysicists once assumed that liquid rock would be homogenous when it cooled. Now researchers have found evidence that pre-existing mineralogy can survive impact melt.

Growing plants on Mars

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 07:57:57 EDT

Concrete plans for a one-way ticket to Mars have been forged. Food will have to be grown on location. Is this a distant future scenario? Not for scientists researching whether or not it is possible to grow plants on the moon.

LRO's LAMP ultraviolet spectrograph observes mercury and hydrogen in GRAIL impact plumes

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 12:17:17 EDT

When NASA's twin GRAIL spacecraft made their final descent for impact onto the Moon's surface last December, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter's sophisticated payload was in position to observe the effects. As plumes of gas rose from the impacts, the Lyman Alpha Mapping Project aboard LRO detected the presence of mercury and hydrogen and measured their time evolution as the gas rapidly expanded into the vacuum of space at near-escape velocities.

Moon and asteroids share history, NASA scientists find

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 18:52:52 EDT

NASA and international researchers have discovered that Earth's moon has more in common than previously thought with large asteroids roaming our solar system.

NASA's LRO sees GRAIL's explosive farewell

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 20:24:24 EDT

Many spacecraft just fade away, drifting silently through space after their mission is over, but not GRAIL. NASA's twin GRAIL (Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory) spacecraft went out in a blaze of glory Dec. 17, 2012, when they were intentionally crashed into a mountain near the moon's north pole.

Leaping lunar dust: Electrically charged dust near shadowed craters can get lofted above Moon's surface

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 10:43:43 EDT

Electrically charged lunar dust near shadowed craters can get lofted above the surface and jump over the shadowed region, bouncing back and forth between sunlit areas on opposite sides, according to new calculations by NASA scientists.

Lunar impacts created seas of molten rock

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 15:12:12 EDT

The impact that formed the Moon's Orientale basin created a sea of melted rock 220 miles across and 6 miles deep, according to a new analysis. Similar seas of impact melt were probably present in at least 30 other large impact sites. Rocks formed as these basins cooled and solidified could mimic rocks formed very early in the Moon's history.

Cassini makes last close flyby of Saturnian moon Rhea

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 08:23:23 EST

NASA's Cassini spacecraft will be swooping close to Saturn's moon Rhea on Saturday, March 9, the last close flyby of Rhea in Cassini's mission. The primary purpose will be to probe the internal structure of the moon by measuring the gravitational pull of Rhea against the spacecraft's steady radio link to NASA's Deep Space Network here on Earth. The results will help scientists understand whether the moon is homogeneous all the way through or whether it has differentiated into the layers of core, mantle and crust.

Water on the moon: It's been there all along

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 13:23:23 EST

Traces of water have been detected within the crystalline structure of mineral samples from the lunar highland upper crust obtained during the Apollo missions, according to scientists.

NASA beams Mona Lisa to Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter at the moon

Thu, 17 Jan 2013 18:34:34 EST

As part of the first demonstration of laser communication with a satellite at the moon, scientists with NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter beamed an image of the Mona Lisa to the spacecraft from Earth.

NASA's GRAIL lunar impact site named for astronaut Sally Ride

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 18:14:14 EST

NASA has named the site where twin agency spacecraft impacted the moon Monday in honor of the late astronaut Sally K. Ride, who was America's first woman in space and a member of the probes' mission team.

NASA GRAIL lunar twins begin their last burn

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 17:11:11 EST

Ebb and Flow -- the two twin spacecraft of NASA's Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission -- have begun their final rocket burns. They are scheduled to impact the moon at around 2:28 p.m. PST (5:28 EST).

Rocket burn sets stage for dynamic moon duos' lunar impact

Sun, 16 Dec 2012 13:14:14 EST

The lunar twins of NASA's Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission have each completed a rocket burn that has sealed their fate. The burns modified the orbit of the formation-flying spacecraft. Over the next three days, this new orbit will carry the twins lower and lower over the moon's surface. On Monday afternoon, Dec. 17, at about 2:28 p.m. PST (5:28 p.m. EST), their moon-skimming will conclude when a portion of the lunar surface -- an unnamed mountain near the natural satellite's north pole -- rises higher than their orbital altitude.

Asteroid Toutatis slowly tumbles by Earth

Sun, 16 Dec 2012 13:12:12 EST

Scientists working with NASA's 230-foot-wide (70-meter) Deep Space Network antenna at Goldstone, Calif., have generated a series of radar data images of a three-mile-long (4.8-kilometer) asteroid that made its closest approach to Earth on Dec. 12, 2012.

NASA probes prepare for mission-ending moon impact

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 14:30:30 EST

Twin lunar-orbiting NASA spacecraft that have allowed scientists to learn more about the internal structure and composition of the moon are being prepared for their controlled descent and impact on a mountain near the moon's north pole at about 2:28 p.m. PST (5:28 p.m. EST) Monday, Dec. 17.

Venus transit and lunar mirror could help astronomers find worlds around other stars

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 11:17:17 EST

On June 6, 2012, Venus passed directly between Earth and the sun, in a so-called transit where the planet appears as a silhouette against the solar disk, something that will not happen again until Dec. 5, 2117. A team of Italian astronomers used the opportunity to perform an unusual and challenging experiment, looking at the sunlight reflected off the moon ('moonlight') to see how it changed during the transit. This technique could help scientists to find planets in orbit around other stars.

Apollo's lunar dust data being restored

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 15:36:36 EST

Forty years after the last Apollo spacecraft launched, the science from those missions continues to shape our view of the moon. In one of the latest developments, readings from the Apollo 14 and 15 dust detectors have been restored by scientists with the National Space Science Data Center at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

NASA twin spacecraft create most accurate gravity map of moon

Wed, 05 Dec 2012 12:43:43 EST

Twin NASA probes orbiting the moon have generated the highest resolution gravity field map of any celestial body. The new map, created by the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission, is allowing scientists to learn about the moon's internal structure and composition in unprecedented detail. Data from the two washing machine-sized spacecraft also will provide a better understanding of how Earth and other rocky planets in the solar system formed and evolved.

Could astronauts use a 3-D printer to make parts from moon rocks?

Wed, 28 Nov 2012 09:39:39 EST

Imagine landing on the moon or Mars, putting rocks through a 3-D printer and making something useful – like a needed wrench or replacement part. "It sounds like science fiction, but now it's really possible,'' scientists say.

Robotic explorers may usher in lunar 'water rush'

Thu, 15 Nov 2012 16:50:50 EST

The American space program stands at the cusp of a "water rush" to the moon by several companies developing robotic prospectors for launch in the near future, according to a NASA scientist considering how to acquire and use water ice believed to be at the poles of the moon.

Huge Procellarum basin on the nearside of the moon may be relic scar from ancient impact

Sun, 28 Oct 2012 16:01:01 EDT

The huge Procellarum basin on the nearside of the Moon may be a relic scar from an ancient impact event that shaped the lunar surface, reports a new study.

Potential Lunar and Martian bases

Mon, 22 Oct 2012 08:03:03 EDT

Researchers in the UK have presented plans for an extraplanetary laboratory that will determine whether it will be possible to establish a base on the Moon, or potentially Mars.

New model reconciles the Moon's Earth-like composition with the giant impact theory of formation

Wed, 17 Oct 2012 14:17:17 EDT

The giant impact believed to have formed the Earth-Moon system has long been accepted as canon. However, a major challenge to the theory has been that the Earth and Moon have identical oxygen isotope compositions, even though earlier impact models indicated they should differ substantially. A new model accounts for this similarity in composition while also yielding an appropriate mass for Earth and the Moon.

Massive planetary collision may have zapped key elements from moon

Wed, 17 Oct 2012 13:18:18 EDT

Fresh examinations of lunar rocks gathered by Apollo astronauts have yielded new insights about the moon's chemical makeup as well as clues about the giant impacts that may have shaped the early beginnings of Earth and the moon. James Day of Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego and colleagues used advanced instrumentation to reveal new findings about elements known as volatiles, which offer key information about how planets may have formed and evolved.

Moon was created in giant smashup; Vaporization of impactor left signature in tiny excess of heavier form of zinc

Wed, 17 Oct 2012 13:18:18 EDT

It's a big claim, but scientists say they have discovered evidence that the Moon was born in a flaming blaze of glory when a body the size of Mars collided with the early Earth. The evidence might not seem all that impressive to a nonscientist: a tiny excess of a heavier variant of the element zinc in Moon rocks. But the enrichment probably arose because heavier zinc atoms condensed out of the roiling cloud of vaporized rock created by a catastrophic collision faster than lighter zinc atoms, and the remaining vapor escaped before it could condense.

Scientists provide window on space radiation hazards

Mon, 15 Oct 2012 13:18:18 EDT

Astrophysicists have created the first online system for predicting and forecasting the radiation environment in near-Earth, lunar, and Martian space environments. The near real-time tool will provide critical information as preparations are made for potential future manned missions to the moon and Mars.

Solar wind particles likely source of water locked inside lunar soils

Sun, 14 Oct 2012 16:28:28 EDT

The most likely source of the water locked inside soils on the moon's surface is the constant stream of charged particles from the sun known as the solar wind, new research suggests.

Prototype of lunar water-prospecting robot to search for water ice at moon's northern pole

Tue, 09 Oct 2012 17:37:37 EDT

A robotics technology company has completed assembly of a full-size prototype of Polaris, a solar-powered robot that will search for potentially rich deposits of water ice at the moon's poles. The first of its kind, Polaris can accommodate a drill to bore one meter into the lunar surface and can operate in lunar regions characterized by dark, long shadows and a sun that hugs the horizon.

Soil heat shield concept passes arc jet testing

Thu, 27 Sep 2012 16:10:10 EDT

Arc jet testing under intense temperatures and pressures showed that heat shields made from the soil of other worlds will stand up to the conditions they would encounter plunging through Earth's atmosphere, researchers said this week.

Dawn suggests special delivery of hydrated material to Vesta

Wed, 26 Sep 2012 09:26:26 EDT

The mechanism by which water is incorporated into the terrestrial planets is a matter of extensive debate for planetary scientists. Now, observations of Vesta by NASA's Dawn mission suggest that hydrous materials were delivered to the giant asteroid mainly through a build-up of small particles during an epoch when the Solar System was rich in dust.

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter explores the moon in 3-D

Tue, 25 Sep 2012 17:18:18 EDT

Scientists using the camera aboard NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter are acquiring stereo images of the moon in high resolution (0.5 to 2 meters/pixel) that provide 3-D views of the surface from which high resolution topographic maps are made.

Landing pads being designed for extraterrestrial missions

Thu, 20 Sep 2012 10:10:10 EDT

When the Mars Science Laboratory's Curiosity rover landed on Aug. 6, it was another step forward in the effort to eventually send humans to the Red Planet. Using the lessons of the Apollo era and robotic missions to Mars, NASA scientists and engineers are studying the challenges and hazards involved in any extraterrestrial landing.

NASA's GRAIL moon twins begin extended mission science

Fri, 31 Aug 2012 13:50:50 EDT

NASA's twin, lunar-orbiting Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) spacecraft began data collection for the start of the mission's extended operations.

Walls of lunar crater may hold patchy ice

Wed, 29 Aug 2012 15:11:11 EDT

Scientists have estimated the maximum amount of ice likely to be found inside a permanently shadowed lunar crater located near the moon's south pole. As much as 5 to 10 percent of material, by weight, could be patchy ice, according to astronomers.

Lunar 'hit-and-run': New research eclipses existing theories on formation of the moon

Wed, 29 Aug 2012 06:48:48 EDT

A new study highlights a novel perspective on how the moon was formed. The moon is believed to have formed from a collision, 4.5 billion years ago, between Earth and an impactor the size of Mars, known as "Theia." Over the past decades scientists have simulated this process and reproduced many of the properties of the Earth-moon system; however, these simulations have also given rise to a problem known as the Lunar Paradox: the moon appears to be made up of material that would not be expected if the current collision theory is correct. A recent study proposes a new perspective on the theory in answer to the paradox.

Neil Armstrong, 1930-2012: U.S. astronaut was first man to walk on the moon

Sat, 25 Aug 2012 19:36:36 EDT

Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon during the 1969 Apollo 11 mission, has died, following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures. He was 82. Armstrong's words "That is one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind," spoken on July 20, 1969, as he became the first person ever to step onto another planetary body, instantly became a part of history.

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spectrometer detects helium in moon's atmosphere

Wed, 15 Aug 2012 15:16:16 EDT

Scientists using the Lyman Alpha Mapping Project (LAMP) spectrometer aboard NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) have made the first spectroscopic observations of the noble gas helium in the tenuous atmosphere surrounding the Moon.

New findings expand Apollo observations of lunar atmosphere

Mon, 16 Jul 2012 21:44:44 EDT

In December 1972 the astronauts of Apollo 17 -- the last manned mission to the moon -- deployed the Lunar Atmospheric Composition Experiment (LACE), a spectrometer designed to measure and characterize the thin lunar atmosphere. Forty years later, researchers built upon those initial measurements, providing the first remotely-sensed measurement of the Moon's gaseous environment from lunar orbit.

Asteroid strikes cause the Moon's surface to smooth

Mon, 16 Jul 2012 16:31:31 EDT

The lunar surface is marred by impact craters, remnants of the collisions that have occurred over the past 4.5 billion years. The Orientale basin, the Moon's most recently formed sizeable crater, stands out from the rest. The crater, which lies along the southwestern boundary between the near and far sides of the moon, appears as a dark spot ringed by concentric circles of ejecta that reach more than 900 kilometers (560 miles) from the impact location. Researchers now propose that whenever a large body slams into the Moon, seismic waves produced during the impact travel through the solid lunar material, inducing seismic shaking that causes landslides and surface settling.

Researchers estimate ice content of crater at moon's south pole

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 14:11:11 EDT

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft has returned data that indicate ice may make up as much as 22 percent of the surface material in a crater located on the moon's south pole. The team of NASA and university scientists using laser light from LRO's laser altimeter examined the floor of Shackleton crater. They found the crater's floor is brighter than those of other nearby craters, which is consistent with the presence of small amounts of ice. This information will help researchers understand crater formation and study other uncharted areas of the moon.

Nanoparticles found in moon glass bubbles explain weird lunar soil behavior

Wed, 13 Jun 2012 10:24:24 EDT

Using synchrotron-based nano tomography, scientists have found a highly porous network of alien-looking glassy particles inside unbroken bubbles of glass in a sample of lunar soil.

Electric moon jolts the solar wind

Thu, 31 May 2012 10:24:24 EDT

With the moon as the most prominent object in the night sky and a major source of an invisible pull that creates ocean tides, many ancient cultures thought it could also affect our health or state of mind -- the word "lunacy" has its origin in this belief. Now, a powerful combination of spacecraft and computer simulations is revealing that the moon does indeed have a far-reaching, invisible influence -- not on us, but on the Sun, or more specifically, the solar wind.

NASA lunar spacecraft complete prime mission ahead of schedule

Wed, 30 May 2012 09:28:28 EDT

A NASA mission to study the moon from crust to core has completed its prime mission earlier than expected. The team of NASA's Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission, with twin probes named Ebb and Flow, is now preparing for extended science operations starting Aug. 30 and continuing through Dec. 3, 2012.

What astronauts ate: Apollo 10 space meal, 1969

Fri, 18 May 2012 13:22:22 EDT

This Smithsonian Snapshot marks the May 18, 1969, launch of the Apollo 10 mission with an astronaut's space meal from that mission.

Hinode mission to capture annular solar eclipse this weekend

Fri, 18 May 2012 10:30:30 EDT

On May 20-21, 2012 an annular eclipse of the Sun will be visible from within a narrow corridor along Earth's northern Hemisphere -- beginning in eastern Asia, crossing the North Pacific Ocean, and ending in the western United States. A partial eclipse will be visible from a much larger region covering East Asia, North Pacific, North America and Greenland.

Asteroid collision that spawned Vesta's asteroid family occurred more recently than thought

Thu, 10 May 2012 14:19:19 EDT

Scientists have discovered evidence that the giant impact crater Rheasilvia on Asteroid Vesta was created in a collision that occurred only about one billion years ago, much more recently than previously thought. This result is based on the analysis of high-resolution images obtained with the Dawn spacecraft, which entered orbit around Vesta in July 2011.

Hubble to use moon as mirror to see Venus transit

Fri, 04 May 2012 13:57:57 EDT

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope will study Venus's atmosphere during an upcoming opportunity where Venus is passing in front of the Sun. Hubble cannot look at the Sun directly, so astronomers are planning to point the telescope at the Moon, using it as a mirror. The next time Venus will pass in front of the Sun will be in the year 2117.

Why Saturday’s 'supermoon' will be beautiful, but not super

Fri, 04 May 2012 13:57:57 EDT

Yes, it will be marginally brighter and larger, but Saturday's so-called "supermoon" is not going to be noticeably different from the full moon of the month before or after. An astronomer explains that a "supermoon" typically happens once a year, when the moon's elliptical orbit comes closest to Earth during a full moon. But the nickname makes it sound like a much bigger deal than it actually is.

Splatters of molten rock signal period of intense asteroid impacts on Earth

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 14:03:03 EDT

New research reveals that the Archean era -- a formative time for early life from 3.8 billion years ago to 2.5 billion years ago -- experienced far more major asteroid impacts than had been previously thought, with a few impacts perhaps even rivaling those that produced the largest craters on the Moon.

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter brings 'earthrise' to everyone

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 19:17:17 EDT

The moonscape was created using high-resolution topography data from LRO's Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter, which has provided the most precise and complete maps to date of the moon's complex, heavily cratered terrain.

Titanium paternity test fingers Earth as moon's sole parent

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 12:47:47 EDT

A new chemical analysis of lunar material collected by Apollo astronauts in the 1970s conflicts with the widely held theory that a giant collision between Earth and a Mars-sized object gave birth to the moon 4.5 billion years ago.

Flying formation -- around the moon at 3,600 mph

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 11:11:11 EDT

The act of two or more aircraft flying together in a disciplined, synchronized manner is one of the cornerstones of military aviation, as well as just about any organized air show. But as amazing as the U.S. Navy's elite Blue Angels or the U.S. Air Force's Thunderbirds are to behold, they remain essentially landlocked, anchored if you will, to our planet and its tenuous atmosphere. What if you could take the level of precision of these great aviators to, say, the moon?

NASA GRAIL returns first student-selected moon images

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 16:48:48 EDT

One of two NASA spacecraft orbiting the moon has beamed back the first student-requested pictures of the lunar surface from its onboard camera. Fourth grade students from the Emily Dickinson Elementary School in Bozeman, Mont., received the honor of making the first image selections by winning a nationwide competition to rename the two spacecraft.

Super-Earth unlikely able to transfer life to other planets

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 11:56:56 EDT

While scientists believe conditions suitable for life might exist on the so-called "super-Earth" in the Gliese 581 system, it's unlikely to be transferred to other planets within that solar system.