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Moon

RESEARCH WATCH

Eureka! NASA strikes water on lunar surface

By Darren Quick

19:16 November 17, 2009 PST

The ejecta plume about 20 seconds after the LCROSS impact (Images: NASA)

Scientists have long speculated about the source of significant quantities of hydrogen that have been observed at the moon's lunar poles, and just a few months ago NASA announced that water molecules were indeed present, but in relatively small amounts. Now the Lunar CRater Observing and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) that was employed to shed some more light on the presence of water on the moon, looks like it has done just that with preliminary data indicating the mission successfully uncovered water in a permanently-shadowed crater. Read More

SCIENCE AND EDUCATION

NASA live broadcast of LCROSS impact

By Paul Ridden

06:42 October 8, 2009 PDT

Artist's rendering of the Lunar CRater Observing and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) spacecraft...

NASA's Lunar Prospector first detected some hydrogen signatures in craters on the dark side of the moon in 1999. Ever since, researchers have been keen to confirm the presence of water on the moon. The Lunar CRater Observing and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) is tasked with crashing through the mists of speculation and conjecture and discover the truth. And you can watch all the action as it happens. Read More

RESEARCH WATCH

A hard rain's gonna fall on exoplanet COROT-7b

By Mick Webb

04:12 October 5, 2009 PDT

An artist's impression of the exoplanet COROT-7b. Theoretical models suggest it may have l...

Raining rocks? The concept may not be as preposterous as it sounds according to scientists at Washington University in St Louis who have theorized that a recently-discovered exoplanet, COROT-7b, may have an atmosphere that does exactly that. Read More

ROBOTICS

Sandia hoppers have robots jumping for joy

By Darren Quick

00:23 September 21, 2009 PDT

A hopping robot jumps over the head of Sandia National Laboratories researcher Gary Fische...

Whether they use wheels, treads, or even legs, robots often have trouble extricating themselves from situations they may encounter on a space mission. Their design can also prevent them from easily navigating around certain obstacles. The chances of hitting a roadblock only increase when human control is removed, as in the case of autonomous robots. Hopping robots inspired by the clumsy jumping of grasshoppers could prove to be the answer to giving robots unprecedented mobility for exploring other planets, gathering battlefield intelligence, and assisting police during standoffs or surveillance operations. Read More

AERO GIZMO

Build a lunar lander and win $1 million

By Paul Lester

17:38 September 1, 2009 PDT

Armadillo Aerospace will be competing at level 2 following success with its PIXEL lander

The X-Prize foundation, who teamed up with Google in 2007 to create the USD$30 million Google Lunar X Prize competition, has recorded plenty of interest. Since Odyssey Moon’s registration, a further ten parties moved swiftly to take up the gauntlet last year. Read More

TELECOMMUNICATIONS

LRO - a giant leap for data transfer from the moon

By Jeff Salton

22:52 August 27, 2009 PDT

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter hitches a ride with an Atlas V/Centaur rocket from Cap...

How is it that my cell phone still loses connection in the city and my laptop barely gets the Internet in the mountains, yet NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) can keep in touch with Earth from 238,800 miles away, 24 hours a day? Additionally, LRO can transmit 461GB of data per day (the equivalent amount of information found in a huge library), sending this information at a rate of up to 100Mb/s, while my so-called high-speed Internet service struggles to provide about 1-3Mb/s. Obviously, it’s not what you know but who you know! Read More

GOOD THINKING

NASA and Goodyear develop puncture proof tire for the 21st Century

By Paul Ridden

02:31 August 16, 2009 PDT

On test: the lunar truck simulator at the Rock Yard of Houston's Johnson Space Center

It looks like seventies science fiction television is (finally) going to meet reality with NASA planning to set up a real Moonbase Alpha by 2020. In order to meet the heavy load/long range transport requirements of life on the moon, NASA recently teamed up with Goodyear to review and redesign some 40-year-old technology in the shape of the airless tires first seen on the Lunar Rover Vehicles of Apollo missions. Read More

SCIENCE AND EDUCATION

The search for ice on the moon heats up

By Jeff Salton

19:58 August 2, 2009 PDT

An artist's impression of the LRO spacecraft taking hi-res images of the moon's surface (I...

Special sensing technology developed by Raytheon for the US Navy's miniaturized radio frequency system is aboard NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), one of two spacecraft hoping to find photographic evidence that the polar regions of the moon contain ice. Until now, man hasn’t been able to confirm if there is ice on the moon because it is thought to exist only in permanently dark patches, or poles, on the lunar landscape – which means we haven’t been able to take detailed photos yet. NASA in particular is interested in determining the extent to which lunar ice exists, if at all, as the agency prepares for future manned exploration and possible habitation on the moon. Read More

ROBOTICS

Astrorobotic rover aims to visit Apollo 11 site after 40 years

By Paul Lester

19:40 July 30, 2009 PDT

Astrorobotic's concept will record data and send it back to earth with twin HD cameras

Forty years after Apollo 11 touched down on the moon, plans are afoot to revisit the site to see how the remains have stood up to four decades of radiation and micrometeorite bombardment. One vehicle that may well be used for this expedition is the third prototype lunar robot from Lunar X Prize entrant Astrobotic. The rover is one tough nut - it's designed to survive the blistering heat of the lunar ‘noontime extreme’, which sees temperatures reach 270 degrees Fahrenheit, as well as the minus 240 degree Fahrenheit temperatures of the lunar night. Read More

AERO GIZMO

New ion engine could reach Mars in 39 days

By Michael Mulcahy

18:41 July 28, 2009 PDT

The VASIMR engine could make a manned flight to Mars in about a sixth of the time of conve...

Last week, as the world celebrated the first lunar landing, Apollo 11 astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins both called for NASA to make Mars its next goal. But the chemical propulsion system that took them to the moon would take six months, at least, to get a man to Mars and cost hundreds of billions of dollars. However, a new ion plasma rocket being developed by another former astronaut, Franklin Chang-Diaz, could potentially reach Mars in just 39 days using a fraction of the fuel. Read More

AERO GIZMO

That 'small step for man' still very visible on the moon

By Michael Mulcahy

07:28 July 20, 2009 PDT

Apollo 11 lunar module, Eagle and Apollo 15 lunar module, Falcon (Photo: NASA)

Exactly forty years ago today, with fuel running short and alarms buzzing, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin set their lunar module Eagle down on the face of the moon, and mankind took its very first step on another celestial body. Last week, NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) returned its first imagery of the Apollo moon landing sites. Even after all these years, there’s something truly heroic about seeing those lunar module descent stages sitting silently on the surface, testament to man’s imagination and determination. Read More

AERO GIZMO

The new space race: first courier service to the moon

By Michael Mulcahy

23:05 July 19, 2009 PDT

Odyssey Moon has announced plans to become the first private company to supply payload del...

As we commemorate the fortieth anniversary of the Apollo moon landing this week, it’s worth asking what happened to those old dreams of lunar colonies and missions to Mars. NASA is reportedly struggling thanks to a general lack of interest and, it claims, funding. But, even with USD$187 billion, their Project Constellation is unlikely to reach the moon before 2020. The best hope right now seems to be driven by the private sector: Google’s USD$30 million Lunar X PRIZE and one of its most promising contenders, Odyssey Moon, which has announced plans to become the first private company to supply payload delivery services to the Moon. Read More

 
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