moon

All systems go for Thursday rollout of NASA’s Artemis 1 moon mission

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The rollout for NASA’s Artemis 1 mission is right on track for this Thursday (March 17), agency officials said today (March 14).  In just a few days, NASA’s immense Crawler-Transporter 2 vehicle will carry the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) megarocket and Orion spacecraft on a 4-mile (6.4 kilometers) journey to Pad 39B at NASA’s … Read more

NASA Is Cracking Open a 50-Year-Old Vacuum-Sealed Tube of Lunar Gas And Soil

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The Apollo missions to the Moon brought a total of 2,196 rock samples to Earth. But NASA has only just started opening one of the last ones, collected 50 years ago. For all that time, some tubes were kept sealed so that they could be studied years later, with the help of the latest technical … Read more

How did the moon form? Simulation may solve riddle about its chemistry

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The moon is thought to have been created in a violent collision, and a new simulation of the event could answer questions that have puzzled astrophysicists Space 11 March 2022 By Alex Wilkins Artwork of the collision that gave rise to the moon MARK GARLICK/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY A computer simulation that traces the moon’s formation … Read more

NASA’s cracking open a vintage Apollo 17 moon rock sample for Artemis prep

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Nearly 50 years after Apollo 17 astronauts collected rocks from the lunar surface, NASA is finally tapping their samples as it prepares for new missions to the moon. NASA set aside the Apollo 17 moon rock samples to preserve the precious samples collected in 1972 by astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt (also a geologist) … Read more

Russia’s War in Ukraine Threatens Joint Missions to Mars, Venus and the Moon

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In the weeks since Vladimir Putin sent Russian troops storming into neighboring Ukraine, blowback from that invasion has erupted around the world—and off-world, too. As the crisis deepens, it is increasingly disrupting international cooperation on present and planned projects for space science and exploration, potentially jeopardizing their future. Much like nesting matryoshka dolls of diminishing … Read more

Watch the moon cross Taurus the Bull in the night sky this week

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The moon will pass by the Seven Sisters and other famous parts of Taurus as it crosses through the constellation this week. Starting Monday (March 7), the moon entered the bottom of the bright constellation, which is also known as ‘The Bull.’ Taurus is one of the 12 zodiacal constellations that lies along the ecliptic, … Read more

Jupiter’s big moon Ganymede casts giant shadow in stunning Juno photo by citizen scientist

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A powerful new picture of Jupiter posted by a citizen scientist shows the planet looming large with the shadow of its biggest moon Ganymede blanketing its clouds. The image comes from Kevin M. Gill, who posted copies on Twitter and Flickr  after analyzing data from the Juno spacecraft’s 20th close flyby of May 2019. Like … Read more

For The First Time, There Has Been an Unplanned Spacecraft Crash With The Moon

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Add one more crater to the long list of pockmarks on the lunar surface. According to orbital calculations, a rocket hurtling through space for years crashed into the Moon on Friday, but the strike wasn’t directly observed, and there might be a wait for photographic evidence.   The impact would have taken place at 7:25 … Read more

Lego rolls out Artemis toy sets ahead of new NASA moon missions

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Lego rolled out its version of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) on Tuesday (March 1), two weeks before the space agency was scheduled to do the same with the real moon-bound rocket. The toy company released the SLS and three other sets inspired by NASA’s Artemis program as part of an expansion to its long-running … Read more