Tag Archives: Lunar

In March, observers in Chile were treated to an especially spectacular sight, as the night sky lit up with orange and green hues. To top it off, the moon was in a full lunar eclipse. What is it? The two telescopes seen in this image are the U.S. Naval Observatory Deep South Telescope and the DIMM2 seeing monitor, both part …

China has taken a new step in its long-term planning for lunar exploration with the completion of a “simulated moon underground space.” Researchers have established a practice area in a volcanic lava cave in a forest region near Jingbo Lake in Mudanjiang City, located in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang. The move is in response to research suggesting that lava …

Recently, NASA tested a payload adapter at the Marshall Space Flight Center as part of the preparation for the upcoming Artemis IV mission. What is it? The massive, dark circular payload adapter was carefully lowered from Test Stand 4697 to Test Stand 4705 for storage, after successfully completing initial structural tests. The next stage is for flight engineers to run …

Soil excavated from the moon could be used to produce oxygen and methane, which could be used by lunar settlers for breathing and for rocket fuel. This is the conclusion of a team of scientists from China who have found a one-step method of doing all this. Whether it is economically viable, however, is up for debate. But the Chinese …

For centuries, people have noticed strange, fleeting flashes of light on the Moon. Long pushed aside as optical illusions or observational errors, these eerie bursts eventually captured the attention of the scientific community. While observations of odd light blips on the Moon have been reported since the 17th century with the rise of telescopes, unconfirmed sightings have been chronicled as …

After the fire and fury of liftoff, when a spacecraft is sailing silently through space, you could be forgiven for thinking the hard part of the mission is over. After all, riding what’s essentially a domesticated explosion up and out of Earth’s gravity well very nearly pushes physics and current material science to the breaking point. But in reality, getting …

IN A NUTSHELL 🚀 NASA’s Artemis mission will deploy advanced tools to explore the moon’s south polar region. 🔍 The Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV) will carry two instruments to detect minerals and map the lunar surface. 🛰️ The Ultra-Compact Imaging Spectrometer will orbit the moon to assess surface water and human impact. 🌑 These efforts aim to uncover lunar secrets …

NASA has announced the selection of three innovative scientific instruments that will be vital to the Artemis mission, specifically for the Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV), a key part of NASA’s lunar exploration plans. These instruments, designed to uncover more about the Moon’s surface and subsurface, will help NASA reach unprecedented goals in understanding Earth’s closest neighbor. The announcement was made …

NASA has selected three instruments to travel to the Moon, with two planned for integration onto an LTV (Lunar Terrain Vehicle) and one for a future orbital opportunity. The LTV is part of NASA’s efforts to explore the lunar surface as part of the Artemis campaign and is the first crew-driven vehicle to operate on the Moon in more than …