Moon, space, exploration news and discussion

Current Moon phase:
Mon Aug 4, 2008
Obama On NASA

Obama does not want to lose any lead in space exploration to the Russians.

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Mon Aug 4, 2008
SpaceX Rocket Failure

This is the third flight of the SpaceX rocket and it has failed like the first two.

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Sat Jun 21, 2008
Mars has Ice

Mars has Ice!

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Thu Jun 19, 2008
Mars Rover Videos

Mars Exploration Rover Video

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Tue Jun 17, 2008
Water on Moon

Turning moon dust into water means breathable air is possible as well.

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Fri May 23, 2008
Skydiving from Edge of Space

64 year old Michel Fournier from France will use a helium balloon to elevate himself to the edge of space about 40 km / 25 miles above the Earth and jump out of the safety of his gondola capsule for a record setting jump.

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Sat May 3, 2008
Telescopes on Microsatellite

If you thought stabilizing a telescope from earth was tricky, how about trying it from space with nothing to brace against?

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Fri May 2, 2008
Microsatellites

NASA has already worked with but now several countries (Canada and Germany, India) are starting to show interest in tiny microsatellites.

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Sat Mar 29, 2008
Space Shuttle Landing

Space Shuttle Endeavour has landed successfully during the night:

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Sat Mar 29, 2008
Space Shuttle Ascent

A great video showing the ascent of a space shuttle including views from the rockets, land, and inside the shuttle itself.

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Fri Mar 28, 2008
Finding Satellite Parts

An Australian farmer was tending to his cattle when he came across a mysterious 'giant ball of twisted metal'.

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Sun Mar 23, 2008
Space Boomerang

Until now it was widely believed that gravity played a large role in why boomerangs returned back to the thrower, however a kink in this theory has just been introduced.

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Sun Mar 23, 2008
Space Weapons

Earlier we discussed the coming war in space and China's Moon Strategy, now this interesting article by Michael Moore raises some further interesting points.

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Sat Mar 22, 2008
NASA Cassini Possibly Finds Water

NASA's Cassini spacecraft has sent results from the latest fly-by of Saturn's moon Enceladus.

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Tue Mar 18, 2008
Shrinking Artice Ice

Although a recent partial recovery warnings abound that the Arctic sea ice is melting.

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Tue Mar 18, 2008
Richard Garriott Part II

Scientists have found possibly the first Soliton wave in space. Scientists say they have noticed an "unusual electrical disturbance" that is a Soliton wave.

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Tue Mar 18, 2008
Soliton Wave in Space Found

Scientists have found possibly the first Soliton wave in space. Scientists say they have noticed an "unusual electrical disturbance" that is a Soliton wave.

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Tue Mar 18, 2008
Arthur C Clarke Dies

Science visionary and author Arthur C. Clarke has died in Sri Lanka at the age of 90.

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Thu Mar 13, 2008
How Reagan Thatcher Pope John Paul II Won Cold War

We may never know all the truth but this account by an aid to Thatcher is a very interesting read.

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Fri Feb 22, 2008
Google X-Prize Competition

10 additional teams have announced their intention to enter the Google X-Prize.

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Thu Feb 21, 2008
Lunar Eclipse Photos

Some results from the recent lunar eclipse:

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Fri Feb 15, 2008
China Steals NASA Secrets

This story of space espionage is amazing on so many levels:

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Thu Feb 14, 2008
Shooting Down Spy Satellite

First China intends to shoot down a satellite now their enemy flexes their muscle.

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Thu Feb 14, 2008
February Lunar Eclipse

February 20/21 will provide a unique lunar eclipse (where the Sun, Earth, and Moon form a straight line such that the Moon enters Earth's shadow):

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Mon Feb 11, 2008
Fish in Space

German scientists will carry out experiments and advance knowledge by launching fish into space.

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Sat Jan 26, 2008
Moon Illusion

Why does the Moon appear larger when lower in the horizon?

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Sat Jan 26, 2008
Synchronous Rotation

Because Earth's Moon rotates around the Earth and shows us nearly the exact same side it is considered to be in "synchronous rotation".

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Fri Jan 25, 2008
Asteroid Fly By

An asteroid will fly by Earth the closest in 22 years, and at 1.4 times the distance between the planet and the Moon.

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Thu Jan 24, 2008
Great Resource for Children To Learn About Our Solar System

The internet can be a great resource for teaching us about our Solar System. For example children may enjoy these 2 excellent video's providing a simple comparison view of the size of planets:

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Wed Jan 23, 2008
Moon Tourism

How long will it be until you know someone who travelled to space or even the moon? If we extrapolate recent trends one might be lead to believe it won't be that long.

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Tue Jan 22, 2008
Space Ultima

Ubuntu and Thawte founder Mark Shuttleworth was able to parlay some of the fortunes of his sale of Thawte to VeriSign to be one of the first citizens to space but now a 46 year old computer game developer (Richard Garriott) will also travel to the International Space Station (ISS) using a Russian spacecraft.

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Tue Jan 15, 2008
Rocket Launch from the Ocean

Sea Launch today launched a satellite using a rocket from a repurposed oil rig in the middle of the Pacific ocean near the equator. The Sea Launch platform was formerly a semisubmersible oil rig in the North Sea that is now repurposed for rocket launches by Sea Launch.

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Tue Jan 15, 2008
Ulysses Sun Fly By

The Ulysses spacecraft will be flying by the Sun's North Pole.

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Mon Jan 14, 2008
Hubble Spots Rare Double Einstein Ring

Astronomers hope to further understand dark matter with a recent finding of a rare double Einstein ring.

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Mon Jan 14, 2008
Messenger To Fly By Mercury

NASA launched the Messenger space probe back in August of 2004 and now Messenger has arrived closer to its destination and has started taking images of the planet Mercury.

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Wed Jan 9, 2008
Last Hubble Repair Flight

The new batteries and new wide-angle camera that will provide sharper images will have to wait.

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Mon Dec 24, 2007
Beaming Solar Energy From Space

The Pentagon is funding research to beam solar energy from mega-orbiter satellites in space back down to Earth.

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Thu Dec 20, 2007
Global Positioning System Satellites Launched

In support of our previous story on the coming of the war in space comes news of the rocket launch carrying NAVSTAR Global Positioning System Block IIR military navigation satellite.

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Sat Dec 15, 2007
English Working on Moon Mission

England is teaming up with NASA to provide an unmanned moon probe mission. The mission will fire four "penetrator" missile darts that will probe the moon and return research data back to Earth. Some of the data the penetrator darts will look for are moonquakes which may provide additional information on the physical structure and composition of the moon. The mission may be ready to launch by 2012.

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Mon Dec 10, 2007
Human Body In Space

The plans are for astronauts to live for in space or on the moon for prolonged periods of time. However before humans can start this living in space we need to understand how our bodies will perform.

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Mon Dec 10, 2007
Jet Assisted C130 Hercules

Rockets are typically used to leave Earth's gravity and to explore space but similar technology is used on earth for propelling purposes. The Air Force are experimenting with a Jet Assisted Take Off (JATO). The interesting detail here is the aircraft it is mounted on - a C130 Hercules aircraft.

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Thu Dec 6, 2007
Lunokhod on Nature of Things

David Suziki's Nature of Things aired a well done segment on the Russian Lunokhod.

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Thu Dec 6, 2007
First Team To Accept X Prize Challenge

Today from the Isle of Man Odyssey Moon announced they are accepting the Lunar X Prize challenge. Not anyone can announce this since it requires a $10,000 registration fee.

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Wed Dec 5, 2007
Bombing the Moon

In order to determine whether the moon ever contained water ice NASA is planning on bombing the moon with "impactors". The impactors are really rockets and will cause a large impact which will be "analyzed for the presence of hydrated minerals".

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Wed Dec 5, 2007
Auction Closed

Earlier we talked about Wernher von Braun's papers were being auctioned off. The auction has finished and according to this post Wernher von Braun's Phd papers sold for $33k.

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Mon Dec 3, 2007
Wernher von Braun Notes Auction
Up for auction are Germany's Wernher von Braun formerly top secret hand written notes, charts, and graphs. Von Braun was Germany's director of the V-2 Rocket leading up to World War II and later moved to U.S.A. to head NASA.

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Sat Dec 1, 2007
Space Shuttle Successor

Fast Company has an interesting article on how NASA is designing their next space ship Orion to use more off the shelf technology and less inventing from new. This shift in methodology is in the hope of improving costs by borrowing from good old american business sense.

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Sat Dec 1, 2007
Google X-prize

Google has announced the Google Lunar X-Prize for international individuals and companies to compete in a race to be the first to land and operate a craft on the surface of the moon. Bonuses are provided for competitors who achieve various objectives. It is expected that this competition will challenge and motivate engineers to innovate and advance low cost methods for traveling to the moon and beyond.

There are official question and answer for clarification on what is required.

Google last September announced that more than $20 million dollars were available in the Google X Prize for the first team that is able to land a privately funded craft on the moon and be able to move it at least 500 meters with a video (a Mooncast) sent back to humans on Earth.

Prize AmountNameDescription
$30millionTotalGrand Prize + 2nd Prize + Bonuses
$20millionGrand Prizeteam must successfully soft land a privately funded spacecraft on the Moon, rove on the lunar surface for a minimum of 500 meters, and transmit a specific set of video, images and data back to the Earth
$15millionGrand Prize after Dec 31 2012Same as Grand Prize, later date

Additionally, Google has pulled all the stops in creating this Hollywood-esque promotional video to get people excited about their X-prize:

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Fri Nov 30, 2007
The coming war in space

There are over 18,000 man made objects orbiting the Earth and some say the destruction of a satellite by the chinese earlier this year is a sign of the star wars to come. This comes despite a 40 year old international treaty against such actions.

People with access to intelligence (including Rumsfeld) have come out and warned us about foreign competition. The fact that the U.S. may be less prone to attack from tanks and planes on Earth and more prone to losing strategic technology in space may concern leaders.

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Mon Nov 26, 2007
Earth Has a Moon But This is Rare

Scientists are reporting that the fact Earth has a moon is actually rarer than previously thought.

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Mon Nov 26, 2007
China's Moon Strategy

Last month China launched a lunar orbiter with relatively little fanfare or mainstream press recognition. Now questions have arisen as to what exactly are the Chinese plans for the Moon. NASA has made warnings, speculation has been put forth claiming the Chinese are looking to be the 1st or 2nd most relevant space program.

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Tue Nov 20, 2007
Google and NASA

In relative time the history between Google and NASA is short (2 years), however during this history there have been some worthy highlights including:

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Mon Nov 19, 2007
Moon Images

Collection of various images of space, the moon, and more...

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NASA Images

News

Space.com Images

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