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Return To The Moon: First Images Kick Off Mapping Mission

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.

NASA Lunar Mission Successfully Enters Moon Orbit

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.

NASA Moon Impactor Successfully Completes Lunar Maneuver

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.

Scientists Bring 'Light' To Moon's Permanently Dark Craters

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.

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter: NASA Returns To The Moon With First Lunar Launch In A Decade

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.

NASA Successfully Launches Lunar Impactor

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.

Fast Neutral Hydrogen Detected Coming From The Moon

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.

Professor Prepares For America's Return To The Moon

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.

Moon Magic: New Tool To Visualize Past, Future Lunar Eclipses

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.

More 'Star Trek' Than 'Snuggie': Student Design To Protect Lunar Outpost From Dangerous Radiation

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.

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter To Help Astronauts Survive On Moon's Forbidding Frontier

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.

Discovered After 40 Years: Moon Dust Hazard Influenced By Sun's Elevation

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.

Twin Spacecraft To Explore Gravitational 'Parking Lots' That May Hold Secret Of Moon's Origin

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.

Small Robots Can Prepare Lunar Surface For NASA Outpost

Small robots the size of riding mowers could prepare a safe landing site for NASA's Moon outpost, according to a NASA-sponsored study.

Most Detailed Lunar Map Suggests Little Water Inside Moon

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.

NASA Mission To Seek Water Ice On Moon Heads To Florida For Launch

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.

C1XS Catches First Glimpse Of X-ray From The Moon

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.

NASA Radar Provides First Look Inside Moon’s Shadowed Craters

Using a NASA radar flying aboard India's Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, scientists are getting their first look inside the moon's coldest, darkest craters.

NASA Tests Engine Technology For Landing Astronauts On The Moon

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.

Thomas Harriot: A Telescopic Astronomer Before Galileo

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.

Next NASA Moon Mission Completes Major Milestone

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.

Lunar Rock-Like Material May Someday House Moon Colonies

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.

3-D Moon Imaging Inaugurated With NASA Instrument Aboard India's Chandrayaan-1 Spacecraft

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.

Passage Graves From An Astronomical Perspective

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.

New Model Explains Movements Of The Moon

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.

Moon’s Polar Craters Could Be The Place To Find Lunar Ice, Scientists Report

Scientists have discovered where they believe would be the best place to find ice on the moon.

Chandrayaan-1 Starts Observations Of The Moon

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.

India's Chandrayaan-1 Spacecraft Successful: Moon Impact Probe Hits Lunar Surface

In a historic event, the Indian space programme achieved a unique feat on Friday (November 14, 2008) with the placing of Indian tricolour on the Moon's surface on Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru's birthday. The Indian flag was painted on the sides of Moon Impact Probe (MIP), one of the 11 payloads of Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, that successfully hit the lunar surface at 20:31 hrs (8:31 pm) IST.

Chandrayaan-1 Now In Lunar Orbit

Chandrayaan-1, the Indian Space Research Organisation's lunar orbiter, was captured into orbit around the Moon on Nov. 8. One day later, the spacecraft performed a maneuver that lowered the closest point of its orbit down to 200 km from the Moon.

Chandrayaan-1 Now In Lunar Transfer Trajectory

Following a fifth orbit-raising maneuver, the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft successfully settled into a trajectory that will take it to the Moon.

NASA Tests Rover Concepts In Arizona

NASA's newest lunar rover prototype has now gone farther than it ever has before. A collection of engineers, astronauts and geologists have spent the past week testing out the Small Pressurized Rover in the 11th annual Desert RATS -- or Research and Technology Studies -- field tests.

India Launches Its First Mission To Moon: Chandrayaan-1

Chandrayaan-1, India's first mission to the Moon, was successfully launched earlier this morning from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SHAR) in Sriharikota, India.

‘Waterless’ Concrete Seen As Building Block On Moon

A new article demonstrates a concept of creating concrete structures on the lunar surface without the use of water.

Microwaves Could Extract Water From Moon And Mars

When astronauts land on the Moon in the not too distant future, it's possible they will be visiting an outpost where they can pick up some fuel and a refreshing container of liquid.

NASA Returns To The Moon With Instruments On Indian Spacecraft

Two NASA instruments to map the lunar surface will launch on India's maiden moon voyage. The Moon Mineralogy Mapper will assess mineral resources, and the Miniature Synthetic Aperture Radar, or Mini-SAR, will map the polar regions and look for ice deposits.

Lunar Prospecting Robot To Be Field Tested On Hawaii's Mauna Kea

The cool, rocky slopes of Mauna Kea, a dormant volcano that is Hawaii's highest mountain, will serve as a stand-in for the moon as researchers test a robot designed for lunar prospecting.

Apollo Heat Shield Uncrated After 35 Years, Helps New Crew Vehicle Design

NASA scientists developing the next generation of exploration vehicles and heat shields for NASA's Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle experienced "Christmas in July" when they uncrated the heat shields used on the Apollo missions some 35 years ago. These shields now are being analyzed to help with the development and engineering process.

Sensors Advance Lunar Landing Project

NASA is developing technologies that will allow lunar landers to automatically identify and navigate to the location of a safe landing site while detecting landing hazards during the final descent to the surface. This is important because future lunar missions will need this capability to be able to land safely near specific resources that are located in potentially hazardous terrain.

Taking A SMART Sidelong Look At Lunar Peak Of Eternal Light

Three-dimensional views of the mountainous terrain surrounding a “peak of eternal light” near the Moon’s south pole have been released by the European Space Agency.

NASA’s Dirty Secret: Moon Dust

The Apollo Moon missions of 1969-1972 all share a dirty secret. "The major issue the Apollo astronauts pointed out was dust, dust, dust," says one researcher. Fine as flour and rough as sandpaper, Moon dust caused 'lunar hay fever,' problems with space suits, and dust storms in the crew cabin upon returning to space.

Robot Scout: Fly Me (Safely) To The Moon

The first attempt to land humans on the moon -- Apollo 11 -- was a triumph that almost ended in disaster. The landings for NASA's return to the moon are likely to be even more challenging. Mission planners want to be able to set down on the edge of enormous craters in the polar regions, because the crater rims will be bathed in gentle but nearly-permanent sunlight. Steady sunshine provides a reliable source of power for long-term expeditions.

NASA Developing Fission Surface Power Technology

NASA astronauts will need power sources when they return to the moon and establish a lunar outpost. NASA engineers are exploring the possibility of nuclear fission to provide the necessary power and taking initial steps toward a non-nuclear technology demonstration of this type of system.

Partial Lunar Eclipse On 16th August

People across the world will have the chance to see a partial eclipse of the Moon on the 16th August.

Solar Eclipse On The Morning Of August 1st

On 1st August 2008 there will be a total eclipse of the Sun, visible from Canada, northern Greenland, Svalbard, the Barents Sea, Russia, Mongolia and China. From the whole of the British Isles observers will see a partial solar eclipse, with between 1/10th and 1/3rd of the Sun obscured by the Moon.

New Project To Develop GPS-like System For Moon

The same researcher who is helping rovers navigate on Mars is leading a new effort to help humans navigate on the moon. When NASA returns to the moon -- the space agency has set a target date of 2020 to do so -- astronauts won't be able to use a global positioning system to find their way around, explained the professor of civil and environmental engineering and geodetic science.

Evidence Of Water Found Deep Within The Moon: Dampens Moon-formation Theory

A Brown-led research team has for the first time found evidence of water deep within the moon. Researchers believe the water was contained in lunar magmas ejected more than 3 billion years ago. The discovery strongly suggests that water has been a part of the Moon since its early existence -- and perhaps since it was first created.

Moon-Bound NASA Spacecraft Passes Major Preflight Tests

Engineering teams are conducting final checkouts of the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, known as LCROSS, that will take a significant step forward in the search for water on the moon.

NASA Tests Lunar Robots And Spacesuits On Earthen Moonscape

Conditions on the moon will be harsher, but prototype NASA robotic vehicles braved sand storms and unprecedented temperature swings this month on sand dunes near Moses Lake, Wash., to prepare for future lunar expeditions. Teams from seven NASA centers and several universities conducted the tests from June 2-13.