The first of two Grail space probes has entered lunar orbit
The first of two Grail space probes has entered lunar orbit.
Tag: Moon
The terraced slopes of Aristarchus
The science team of Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter released a spectacular image of the lunar crater Aristarchus on Christmas Day, looking sideways at the crater’s west wall. The image was taken from only 16 miles above the Moon’s surface. You can see the full image here.
Two things to note from this image:
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Mining the Moon for fun and profit
An audit by NASA’s inspector general finds that NASA can’t keep track of its moon rocks
An audit by NASA’s inspector general has found that NASA can’t keep track of its moon rocks.
In a report issued by the agency’s Inspector General on Thursday, NASA concedes that more than 500 pieces of moon rocks, meteorites, comet chunks and other space material were stolen or have been missing since 1970. That includes 218 moon samples that were stolen and later returned and about two dozen moon rocks and chunks of lunar soil that were reported lost last year.
Russia is considering shifting its planetary research from Mars to the Moon, following the failure of Phobos-Grunt
Russia is considering shifting its planetary research from Mars to the Moon, following the failure of the Phobos-Grunt mission to Mars.
The Mystery of the Lunar Ionosphere
The mystery of the Moon’s ionosphere.
A breathtaking view of the Apollo 15 landing site
The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter team has released a wide angle side view image of the Apollo 15 landing site, showing the lunar module and the areas around Hadley Rille and the Apennine Mountain range that the astronauts explored using their lunar jeep. Below is a cropped close-up, showing the landing site near the top of the image with Hadley Rille near the bottom. Below the fold is a second image showing a wider view that includes the Apennine mountain slope that the astronauts drove their rover up.
The race to mine the Moon
Russians look at lunar caves for their lunar bases
Using images from Japanese and American lunar orbiters, the Russians are looking at lunar caves to build Moon bases by 2030.
The moon contains a vast resource of titanium
There’s gold in them hills! Actually, it’s titanium, and it’s on the Moon.
The highest titanium abundances on Earth are around 1 percent or less. The new map shows that in the [Moon’s] mare, titanium abundances range from about one percent to a little more than ten percent. In the highlands, everywhere TiO2 is less than one percent. The new titanium values match those measured in the ground samples to about one percent.
NASA now claims it can launch a manned mission to lunar orbit by 2019
Forgive me if I remain skeptical: NASA is now claiming it will launch a manned mission to lunar orbit by 2019 using its Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket, the program-formerly-called-Constellation.
Lost Arkansas moon rock found among Governor Bill Clinton archives
Long lost Arkansas moon rock found among Governor Bill Clinton archives.