moon

NASA probe snaps stunning photos of crescent Jupiter and its moon Ganymede

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Data captured by NASA’s Juno spacecraft is revealing incredible new images of Jupiter and its moon Ganymede. In a blog post on Monday (Feb. 14), Juno mission team members shared images of a huge crater on Ganymede as well as a backlit picture of Jupiter that the spacecraft captured during its dips in and out … Read more

Moon group pushes for protection of ultraquiet lunar far side

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The international scientific community has long been discussing the need to keep the far side of the moon free from human-made radio frequency intrusion.  Doing so can make possible observations of the unexplored early epochs of the universe known as the dark ages and cosmic dawn, scientists say. The moon’s far side always faces away … Read more

The Thing About to Crash Into The Moon May Not Be a SpaceX Rocket After All

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A piece of space debris due to crash into the Moon in early March may not be a SpaceX rocket after all. According to an update posted by astronomer Bill Gray, who wrote the Project Pluto software used to track near-Earth objects, the object on a collision course is not a discarded SpaceX Falcon 9 … Read more

The out-of-control rocket about to hit the moon is not a SpaceX Falcon 9, astronomers now say: report

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See the SpaceX booster? If you spot the booster in a telescope before it hits the moon, let us know! Send images and comments in to [email protected].  A rocket stage set to hit the moon March 4 might not be from SpaceX after all. The astronomer credited with discovering the forthcoming impact, Bill Gray, announced … Read more

Moon: crashing rocket will create new crater – here’s what we should worry about

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This is a still frame from the short film “A Trip to the Moon.” (Image credit: Wikimedia Commons/Georges Melies) This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Space.com’s Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. David Rothery is a professor of planetary geosciences at The Open University. It’s not often that the sudden appearance … Read more

Watch NASA’s huge SLS rocket for the Artemis 1 moon mission come together in this epic time-lapse video

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We love it when a rocket comes together. In October 2021, NASA finished stacking the huge Space Launch System (SLS) rocket for its Artemis 1 moon mission inside the cavernous Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. That was a big milestone for the agency and its moon-exploration plans, and a newly … Read more

February full moon 2022: The ‘Snow Moon’ is accompanied by predawn planets

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The full moon of February, called the Snow Moon, will arrive Wednesday (Feb. 16) at 11:57 a.m. EST (0457 GMT). That same day, Mercury reaches its greatest distance west of the sun, making it a bright but challenging to observe “morning star” in mid-northern latitudes.  In New York City the full moon will rise at … Read more

Russia aims to rekindle moon program with lunar lander launch this July

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Russia is ready to reactivate its moon exploration agenda, a former Soviet Union enterprise that ended decades ago. The last in the series of pioneering Soviet robotic lunar missions was Luna 24, which sent about 6 ounces (170 grams) of moon material back to Earth in 1976. Russia’s planned Luna 25 mission is set to … Read more

Jupiter’s auroras arise from a magnetic ‘tug-of-war’ with volcanic eruptions on its moon Io

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Jupiter’s auroras are caused by a cosmic game of “tug-of-war,” fueled by volcanoes on the planet’s innermost moon, Io, new research suggests.  NASA’s Juno spacecraft and Hubble Space Telescope have revealed new evidence suggesting Jupiter’s rapid rotation and the release of sulfur and oxygen from volcanoes on Io — the most volcanically active world in … Read more