NASA prepares for moon’s dark south pole in eerie lights-out ‘spacewalk’ (photo)

NASA is preparing for the day its astronauts explore the south pole of the moon by heading underwater with the lights out. NASA has long used a vast swimming pool dubbed the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory to prepare for spacewalks, since the underwater work experience is the closest they can get to reduced-gravity environments before blasting … Read more

Mars water: Spots at south pole thought to be lakes could be volcanic rock

Radar images of Mars’s southern ice cap indicated that there could be a lake there – but a new set of simulations hints that it could be volcanic rock instead Space 24 January 2022 By Leah Crane The icy cap over Mars’s south pole, photographed by Mars Express ESA/DLR/FU Berlin / Bill Dunford There may … Read more

China has moon’s south pole in its sights with 3 missions launching this decade

China has formally approved three missions targeting the south pole of the moon, with the first to launch around 2024. The missions dubbed Chang’e 6, Chang’e 7 and Chang’e 8 will launch across the 2020s, each with different goals and an array of spacecraft. The trio make up the so-called fourth phase for the Chinese … Read more