Moon Exploration and Science News

June 17, 2014

Cracks in Pluto's Moon Could Indicate it Once Had an Underground Ocean
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Jun 16, 2014
If the icy surface of Pluto's giant moon Charon is cracked, analysis of the fractures could reveal if its interior was warm, perhaps warm enough to have maintained a subterranean ocean of liquid water, according to a new NASA-funded study. Pluto is an extremely distant world, orbiting the sun more than 29 times farther than Earth. With a surface temperature estimated to be about 380 degrees below zero Fahrenheit (around minus 229 degrees Celsius), the environment at Pluto is far too cold to allow ... read more

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55-year old dark side of the moon mystery solved The Man in the Moon appeared when meteoroids struck the Earth-facing side of the moon creating large flat seas of basalt that we see as dark areas called maria. But no "face" exists on farside of th ... more		New evidence supporting moon formation via collision of 2 planets A new series of measurements of oxygen isotopes provides increasing evidence that the Moon formed from the collision of the Earth with another large, planet-sized astronomical body, around 4.5 billi ... more		NASA Missions Let Scientists See Moon's Dancing Tide From Orbit Scientists combined observations from two NASA missions to check out the moon's lopsided shape and how it changes under Earth's sway - a response not seen from orbit before. The team drew on s ... more
				Earth's gravitational pull stretches moon surface Anyone who's been to the beach - and seen the ocean's tides - knows the moon's gravitational effects on Earth are rather obvious. The effects of Earth's gravitational pull on the moon are less apparent. ... more		Water in moon rocks provides clues and questions about lunar history A recent review of hundreds of chemical analyses of Moon rocks indicates that the amount of water in the Moon's interior varies regionally - revealing clues about how water originated and was redist ... more

CubeSats, SmallSats and MicroSats

William Cress Corporation - We Build To Last

UAV Payloads 2014, 24 - 25 June - London, UK

Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison & Memory Foam Mattress Review

Chinese lunar rover alive but weak China's troubled lunar rover Yutu is still alive and functional after more than five months on the moon, a lunar program official said Wednesday. Its functionality has been weakened considerab ... more		Large muskies lured by the moon The lunar cycle may synchronize with feeding activity, luring large muskies to take angler bait, according to results published in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Mark Vinson from U.S. Geologica ... more		US warship makes first call at Cambodia's Chinese-renovated naval base; Chinese coast guard rescues Philippine sailors in disputed waters Japan PM says US alliance would collapse if Tokyo ignored Taiwan crisis Russia's military chief visits troops in east Ukraine: defence ministry		NASA Invites Public to Select Favorite Moon Image for Lunar Orbiter Anniversary Collection NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) will celebrate five years in orbit June 18. To celebrate the anniversary and LRO's many scientific contributions, NASA invites the public to select a favori ... more
				Sunsets on Titan Reveal the Complexity of Hazy Exoplanets Scientists working with data from NASA's Cassini mission have developed a new way to understand the atmospheres of exoplanets by using Saturn's smog-enshrouded moon Titan as a stand-in. The new tech ... more		Intertwined evolution of human brain and brawn The cognitive differences between humans and our closest living cousins, the chimpanzees, are staggeringly obvious. Although we share strong superficial physical similarities, we have been able to u ... more

Startup in the Land of the Rising Sun; A Japanese Solar Venture - by Bradley L. Bartz

First broadband wireless connection ... to the moon If future generations were to live and work on the moon or on a distant asteroid, they would probably want a broadband connection to communicate with home bases back on Earth. They may even want to ... more		Researchers call for better ocean stewardship It has been said that we know more about the surface of the moon than we do about our own planet's oceans. That especially applies to the deepest parts of our oceans - depths that are 200 meters or ... more		World not ready for rise in extreme heat, scientists say US monster storm kills 30 Icy cycles may have driven early protocell evolution		Moon rover Yutu comes closer to public A small replica of lunar rover Yutu, the Jade Rabbit, has gone on show in Beijing. The model, half the size of the real rover, is the star of the 17th China Beijing International High-tech Exp ... more
LRO View of Earth NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) experiences 12 "earthrises" every day, however LROC (short for LRO Camera) is almost always busy imaging the lunar surface so only rarely does an opportunit ... more		Saturn in opposition tonight, will appear next to the moon Tonight, Saturn will appear in the night sky just to the lower left of the moon. ... more		Russia to begin Moon colonization in 2030 Russia will start colonizing the Moon in 2030, Izvestia daily reported on Thursday. The daily has received a draft concept of Russian lunar program developed by enterprises of the Federal Space Agen ... more		NASA Selects Partners for US Commercial Lander Capabilities NASA announced Wednesday the selection of three U.S. companies to negotiate no-funds exchanged partnership agreements with the agency to advance lander capabilities that will enable delivery of payl ... more

	SHERPA launch service deal to deploy 1200 kilo smallsat payloads Spaceflight has announced it has secured a launch service agreement to orbit its "SHERPA" hosted payload and in-space transportation system. Spaceflight's inaugural SHERPA mission will deploy up to ... more		Astrobotic Partners With NASA To Develop Robotic Lunar Landing Capability Astrobotic Technology has announced a new partnership with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for development of robotic lunar landing capability. Astrobotic has been sel ... more

Quantum collapse models point to subtle limits in timekeeping accuracy

It started with a cat: How 100 years of quantum weirdness powers today's tech

Primordial magnetism offers fresh angle on the Hubble constant puzzle

Ganymede May Harbor 'Club Sandwich' of Oceans and Ice		NASA Seeks External Concepts for Mission to Oceanic Jovian Moon		Seven Samples from the Solar System's Birth		John C. Houbolt, Unsung Hero of the Apollo Program, Dies at Age 95		NASA Completes LADEE Mission with Planned Impact on Moon's Surface

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