Moon Exploration and Science News

October 29, 2014

NASA Identifies Ice Cloud Above Cruising Altitude on Titan
Pasadena CA (JPL) Oct 29, 2014
NASA scientists have identified an unexpected high-altitude methane ice cloud on Saturn's moon Titan that is similar to exotic clouds found far above Earth's poles. This lofty cloud, imaged by NASA's Cassini spacecraft, was part of the winter cap of condensation over Titan's north pole. Now, eight years after spotting this mysterious bit of atmospheric fluff, researchers have determined that it contains methane ice, which produces a much denser cloud than the ethane ice previously identified there ... read more

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China's lunar orbiter modifies orbit China's spacecraft testing technology for the Chang'e-5 return lunar mission, trimmed its orbit on Friday afternoon. This was the first modification during a journey scheduled to take about ei ... more		China launches first mission to moon and back China launched its first space mission to the moon and back early Friday, authorities said, the latest step forward for Beijing's ambitious programme to one day land a Chinese citizen on the Earth's only natural satellite. The unnamed, unmanned probe will travel to the moon, fly around it and head back to Earth, re-entering the atmosphere and landing, the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence (SASTIND) said in a statement. ... more		New lunar mission to test Chang'e-5 technology China will launch a new lunar mission this week to test technology likely to be used in Chang'e-5, a future lunar probe with the ability to return to Earth. The experimental spacecraft launche ... more
				Next Chinese mission to moon will return to Earth This week China will launch a new lunar orbiter, which, in contrast with previous space probes, will return to Earth after orbiting the Moon, China's official Xinhua news agency reports. Ye Pe ... more		NASA-led study sees Titan glowing at dusk and dawn New maps of Saturn's moon Titan reveal large patches of trace gases shining brightly near the north and south poles. These regions are curiously shifted off the poles, to the east or west, so that d ... more

Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison & Memory Foam Mattress Review

Organic molecules in Titan's atmosphere are intriguingly skewed While studying the atmosphere on Saturn's moon Titan, scientists discovered intriguing zones of organic molecules unexpectedly shifted away from its north and south poles. These misaligned features ... more		Work completed on satellite launch center in Hainan Construction of the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center in Hainan province, China's fourth and most advanced space launch center, has been completed and it will soon become operational, People's Daily ... more		Aalyria spacetime platform tapped for AFRL space data network trials Atomic 6 debris shields selected for Portal Space Systems mission China starts large scale production of T1000 carbon fiber		Comet's Close Encounter 'One in a Million' University of Arizona scientists have their eyes on Mars for the fly-by of comet Siding Spring, which will pass the red planet on Oct. 19, closer than any comet has ever zoomed past the Earth in rec ... more
				Russian Luna-25 Mission to Cost Billions The Luna-25 exploration mission will cost tens of billions of rubles, an official from Russian Federal Space Agency said Friday. "Let's say, we are talking tens of billions of rubles because i ... more		New Batch of Lunar Soil to be Delivered to Earth in 2023-2025 New samples of lunar soil will be delivered to Earth in 2023-2025, an official from a Russian aerospace company said Friday. "The program currently has four missions: the first demonstration l ... more

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

NASA Mission Finds Widespread Evidence of Young Lunar Volcanism NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has provided researchers strong evidence the moon's volcanic activity slowed gradually instead of stopping abruptly a billion years ago. Scores of dis ... more		China's ailing moon rover weakening China's ailing moon rover Yutu has entered its 11th dormancy as the lunar night falls, with its functions degrading gracefully, its designer said Friday. The rover is currently in good condition and ... more		Ancient nitrogen enzyme study illuminates early Earth conditions and life detection Cleaner ship fuel is reducing lightning in key shipping lanes, research finds Geoscientists use satellite to determine not the shape of water, but how water shapes land		Moons Can Help Planets Remain Stable Long Enough for Life to Form The Moon is more than just Earth's partner in space - it may have helped stabilize Earth's orbit enough for it to become hospitable for the evolution of complex forms of life. A new study suggests t ... more
Russia to make Moon exploration core part of space program Russia will take the Moon exploration as a core of its space program for the next decade, Federal Space Agency Roscosmos said Friday. "This year Roscosmos has prepared a long-term program of d ... more		Researchers: Volcanoes on the moon recently active Data collected by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter indicates moon volcanoes were active more recently than previously thought, researchers said. ... more		NASA Prepares its Science Fleet for Oct. 19 Mars Comet Encounter NASA's extensive fleet of science assets, particularly those orbiting and roving Mars, have front row seats to image and study a once-in-a-lifetime comet flyby on Sunday, Oct. 19. Comet C/2013 A1, a ... more		JPL Selects Europa CubeSat Proposals for Study NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, has chosen proposals from 10 universities to study CubeSat concepts that could enhance a Europa mission concept currently under study by NAS ... more

	Lutetia's dark side hosts hidden crater Grooves found on Lutetia, an asteroid encountered by ESA's Rosetta spacecraft, point to the existence of a large impact crater on the unseen side of the rocky world. Rosetta flew past Lutetia at a d ... more		Russia May Send Repeat Mission to Martian Moon Phobos in 2023 Russia may attempt to repeat its mission to Mars' moon Phobos in 2023, Lev Zeleny, the head of the Russian Space Research Institute told RIA Novosti Friday. The Russian-led mission Phobos-Grun ... more

Hydrogen nuclei experiment sharpens view of quarks inside matter

Oak Ridge team plans powerful test facility for next generation fusion components

Low frequency lasers modeled to greatly boost nuclear fusion rates

Solving the mystery of the 'man in the moon'		Origin of moon's 'ocean of storms' revealed		'Man in the Moon' was born from lava - scientists		Cassini Watches Mysterious Feature Evolve in Titan Sea		China to improve earth observation service
Turning the Moon into a cosmic ray detector		China Exclusive: Mars: China's next goal?		Russia to Launch Full-Scale Moon Exploration Next Decade		Miranda: An Icy Moon Deformed by Tidal Heating		Lunar explorers will walk at higher speeds than thought

Year's final supermoon is a Harvest Moon

Evidence of 'Diving' Tectonic Plates on Jupiter's Moon Europa

China Sends Life to Moon

How much gravity is enough?

Titan's subsurface reservoirs modify methane rainfall

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