moon

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40 Years On, Armstrong Remains an Enigma

(Newser) - Forty years ago today Neil Armstrong strode across the surface of the moon and became the most famous man in the galaxy. Then he disappeared—leaving NASA for a university job, attending almost no public functions, and refusing nearly all interview requests. "Neil was very much the same person...

NASA's $19M Mission: Simulating Messy Moon Dust

(Newser) - With NASA hoping to set up a lunar outpost by 2020, an unlikely nuisance has become a hot commodity: moon dust. With only 227 pounds of the equipment-clogging stuff available for tests, NASA is pouring $19 million into faking it, the Wall Street Journal reports. "So many people need...

Buzz: Forget Moon, Let's Go to Mars
 Buzz: Forget 
 Moon, Let's 
 Go to Mars 
OPINION

Buzz: Forget Moon, Let's Go to Mars

(Newser) - America should boldly turn its space program toward colonizing Mars instead of trying to retrace the dusty footprints that he and Neil Armstrong made on the Moon 40 years ago, Buzz Aldrin writes in the Washington Post on the anniversary of Apollo 11's launch. NASA's attempt to resume lunar exploration...

NASA's Moon Probes Lift Off

(Newser) - NASA launched its first moon shot in a decade today, with an unmanned rocket blasting off from Cape Canaveral. It carried a pair of science probes that will scout out potential landing spots for astronauts. It's a first step in NASA's effort to return humans to the moon by 2020.

Help Wanted: Pillownauts for NASA

They do so for months to mimic lunar gravity

(Newser) - If astronaut school seems too daunting, this might be the next best thing. NASA is offering $160 per day for human testers to lie down at a slight downward angle—a position that simulates the moon's gravitational pull—for months at a stretch. It may sound easy, but bodies aren't...

NASA Hopes for Wednesday Launch

Moon probes would be delayed to Friday

(Newser) - NASA is planning to delay the launch of two unmanned moon probes to give the space shuttle Endeavour another shot at takeoff, Space.com reports. The shuttle was grounded last week because of a hydrogen gas leak. Mission managers will make the final decision later today, but expect Endeavour to...

Armstrong Flubbed Moon Line, Made It Stellar

Astro put tiny poetic spin on script

(Newser) - Stressed out Neil Armstrong flubbed his line as he became the first human to step on the moon—and turned it into out-of-this-world poetry, reports the BBC. The astronaut was supposed to say: "One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind," as he walked onto...

After 4 Decades, Physicist Solves Mystery of Moon Dust

After decades of wondering, Aussie explains its stickiness

(Newser) - Moon dust has been a “bloody nuisance” to NASA for decades, says a physicist: it sticks to spacesuits, clogs instruments, and could be a health risk for future colonists. Scientists believe the stickiness is due to a positive charge from the sun’s rays, NASA says. Now the physicist,...

Firm Vows to Grow Flower on the Moon

(Newser) - A company that builds biospheres to sustain life in outer space is planning to grow a mustard plant on the moon, New Scientist reports. Paragon Space Development will piggyback its greenhouse on a lunar lander competing in a $30 million contest to go to the moon. "We want there...

NASA Plans Jupiter Mission
 NASA Plans Jupiter Mission  

NASA Plans Jupiter Mission

(Newser) - NASA plans to send an orbiter to study the mysteries of one of Jupiter's moons, the Washington Post reports. Scientists suspect Europa has a massive ocean—possibly bigger than all of the Earth's oceans combined—beneath its ice-covered surface, the Post notes. Don't look up just yet: The $3 billion...

Big Moon Rising This Weekend
 Big Moon Rising This Weekend 

Big Moon Rising This Weekend

Star-gazers who missed December's perigee get a second chance to look up Saturday

(Newser) - Star-gazers are hoping for clear skies this evening, when the full moon will make its biggest and brightest appearance of 2009. As it rises at sunset, the moon will appear 14% larger and 30% brighter than the year's subsequent moons, Space.com reports. The show—the result of the moon...

Dog Poop DNA, Sean Avery Rule 2008 Ideas

NYT assembles hodgepodge of year's memorable concepts

(Newser) - For the eighth straight year, the New York Times Magazine has compiled the best—and worst—ideas that influenced the past 12 months:
  • Can’t get enough of popping bubble wrap? A Japanese, battery-operated key chain now simulates your favorite mindless activity.
  • Sean Avery not only made his name as
...

British Satellites May Provide Cell Phone Service on Moon

Program would give lunar residents cell phone service

(Newser) - The UK’s space agency is reviewing the feasibility of a mission to put satellites in orbit around the moon, CNET reports. The MoonLITE study plans to send four “penetrator darts” containing geophysical instruments into the moon’s crust, monitoring their findings with four accompanying satellites. The resulting data...

Jupiter, Venus, Moon Converge in Rare Reunion

Spectacular planetary 'huddle' to start tonight

(Newser) - Americans looking at the night sky this weekend will be able to see the three brightest celestial bodies come together for a Thanksgiving reunion, the AP reports. Jupiter and Venus will move closer and appear to be just a finger's width apart by Sunday. By Monday, the crescent moon will...

India Smashes Probe Into Moon
 India Smashes Probe Into Moon 

India Smashes Probe Into Moon

Landmark trip gathered data on lunar surface

(Newser) - India’s Moon Impact Probe, decorated with the country’s colors, was a smashing success for India's space program when it rammed into the moon’s surface today, Bloomberg reports. The green, white, and orange probe hurtled downward for half an hour, gathering data on the moon’s surface before...

India Launches First Moon Mission

(Newser) - India has launched its first mission to the moon, the BBC reports. The unmanned Chandrayaan 1 spacecraft blasted off smoothly from southern Andhra Pradesh. The robotic probe is scheduled to orbit the moon for two years, during which time it will compile a 3-D atlas of the surface and search...

Ancient Ritual Blends Faith, Technology

Muslim holy month starts on sighting of crescent moon

(Newser) - Telescopes are tilted skyward throughout the Muslim world tonight, hunting for the first glimpse of a crescent moon that signals the start of Ramadan. In an age-old mix of science and religion, astronomers and clerics gather each year to monitor the moon and announce the beginning of Islam’s holiest...

Water Found in Moon Rock
 Water Found in Moon Rock 

Water Found in Moon Rock

Discovery stuns lunar experts

(Newser) - Water has been detected in moon rock brought to Earth by Apollo astronauts, reports Space.com. A team used a new super-sensitive technique to discover the water in volcanic glass beads in the rock. The stunning find, detailed in the journal Nature, is forcing scientists to rethink theories about the...

Moon Rocks Still Giving Up Gritty Secrets

Lunar rocks have helped unlock secrets of solar system, demise of dinosaurs

(Newser) - Almost 40 years after Apollo astronauts brought samples of the moon back to Earth, the extraterrestrial rocks are still yielding new information, the New York Times reports. In addition to attention from the Johnson Space Center, where they reside, samples are mailed out—on loan only, and usually less than...

There's a Huge Moon on the Rise

Solstice makes heavenly body look bigger tonight, tomorrow—but it's an illusion

(Newser) - Northern Hemisphere residents, check out the night sky tomorrow for an extra-large-looking moon. The moon illusion—a trick our brain plays on us—is enhanced by the summer solstice, and when Earth's satellite rises close to the horizon, conditions are perfect, LiveScience notes.

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