Moon Exploration and Science News

December 20, 2014

Signs of Europa Plumes Remain Elusive in Search of Cassini Data
Pasadena CA (JPL) Dec 19, 2014
A fresh look at data collected by NASA's Cassini spacecraft during its 2001 flyby of Jupiter shows that Europa's tenuous atmosphere is even thinner than previously thought and also suggests that the thin, hot gas around the moon does not show evidence of plume activity occurring at the time of the flyby. The new research provides a snapshot of Europa's state of activity at that time, and suggests that if there is plume activity, it is likely intermittent. The Europa results are being present ... read more

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Plans to Create Russian National Orbital Station Confirmed Russia's space agency Roscosmos is currently looking at plans to create a national space station that may be included in the new Federal Space Program, Roscosmos head Oleg Ostapenko said Monday. "I ... more		Moon Express testing compact lunar lander at Kennedy NASA is working with U.S. industry to develop the capabilities and cutting-edge technologies that will help send astronauts beyond low-Earth orbit. To achieve this goal, space travelers will need th ... more		Cosmic Impacts Might Help Synthesize Organic Compounds Bullets of ice shot at high speeds can deposit organic compounds on surfaces they strike. The new findings suggest that comets might, indeed, have helped deliver key ingredients of life to Earth and ... more
				How Did Life Become Complex, And Could It Happen Beyond Earth? When astrobiologists contemplate life on nearby planets or moons, they often suggest such life would be simple. Instead of there being some kind of multicellular organism on, say, Jupiter's moon Eur ... more		UK Plans to Drill Into Moon, Explore Feasibility of Manned Base UK scientists have put forward goals for the country's recently-proposed Lunar Mission One program, the BBC reported on Monday. The researchers plan to drill 100 meters below the surface of th ... more

Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison & Memory Foam Mattress Review

Portugal to integrate two scientific space exploration programs: media Portugal's Minister of Education and Science Nuno Crato said Wednesday that Portugal will integrate two scientific space exploration programs including the International Space Station, according to ... more		Red Planet's Mystery While NASA plans to return astronauts to the Moon by 2020 for extended missions in search of more water, scientists say it might be a good idea to drop by to Mars as well. In 2011, the first real pr ... more		Stratolaunch secures major funding to scale hypersonic flight services Orion to advance IARPA system for tracking small space debris JAXA taps ispace for lunar debris mitigation and disposal study		Losing air Today's atmosphere likely bears little trace of its primordial self: Geochemical evidence suggests that Earth's atmosphere may have been completely obliterated at least twice since its formation mor ... more
				Carnegie Mellon Unveils Lunar Rover "Andy" Carnegie Mellon University has unveiled Andy, a four-wheeled robot designed to scramble up steep slopes and survive the temperature swings and high radiation encountered while exploring the moon's p ... more		Why we should mine the moon To date, all human economic activity has depended on the material and energy resources of a single planet; understandably, perhaps. It is conceivable though that future advances in space exploration ... more

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

Service module of China's returned lunar orbiter reaches L2 point The service module belonging to China's unmanned lunar orbiter has reached the Earth-Moon second Lagrange Point (L2), the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defens ... more		Young Volcanoes on the Moon Back in 1971, Apollo 15 astronauts orbiting the Moon photographed something very odd. Researchers called it "Ina," and it looked like the aftermath of a volcanic eruption. There's nothing odd about ... more		Cleaner ship fuel is reducing lightning in key shipping lanes, research finds Solar cycles seen in Antarctic fast ice history Hot spring soaking reshapes parasite and microbe balance in Japanese macaques		NASA Opens Cube Quest Challenge for Largest-Ever Prize of $5 Million Registration now is open for NASA's Cube Quest Challenge, the agency's first in-space competition that offers the agency's largest-ever prize purse. Competitors have a shot at a share of $5 mi ... more
Russia Preparing Joint Moon Exploration Agreement With EU Scientists from Russia and the European Union are preparing an agreement on joint exploration of the Moon, Lev Zelyony, director of the Space Research Institute at the Russian Academy of Sciences, s ... more		Extreme Shrimp May Hold Clues to Alien Life At one of the world's deepest undersea hydrothermal vents, tiny shrimp are piled on top of each other, layer upon layer, crawling on rock chimneys that spew hot water. Bacteria, inside the shrimps' ... more		Launched Russian satellites to reach 150 by 2025 Russia will increase the number of its orbital satellites to 150 by 2025, head of Russia's United Rocket Space Corporation (URSC) said Monday. "According to the federal space program's new project, ... more		U.K. group to crowd-source funding for moon mission A group in the United Kingdom aims to launch a lunar probe and study the moon using money raised on crowd-funding website Kickstarter. ... more

	After Mars, India space chief aims for the moon India now has its sights set on low-budget missions to the moon and the sun after becoming the first country in Asia to reach Mars, the head of its space agency said Tuesday. ... more		Cassini Sails into New Ocean Adventures on Titan NASA's Cassini mission continues its adventures in extraterrestrial oceanography with new findings about the hydrocarbon seas on Saturn's moon Titan. During a flyby in August, the spacecraft sounded ... more

Keck backed team advances first graviton detector concept

Trump offers Egypt to mediate on Ethiopia dam

US to repeal the basis for its climate rules: What to know

China Exclusive: China developing Mars rover		China publishes Earth, Moon photos taken by lunar orbiter		China's Lunar Orbiter Makes Safe Landing, First in 40 Years		China examines the three stages of lunar test run		China gears up for lunar mission after round-trip success
China completes first mission to moon and back		Getting to Know You, Rocket Edition: Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage		Richard Binzel on NASA's Asteroid Redirect Mission		Cassini Sees Sunny Seas on Titan		NASA's LRO Spacecraft Captures Images of LADEE's Impact Crater

NASA Identifies Ice Cloud Above Cruising Altitude on Titan

China launches first mission to moon and back

New lunar mission to test Chang'e-5 technology

Next Chinese mission to moon will return to Earth

China's lunar orbiter modifies orbit

NASA-led study sees Titan glowing at dusk and dawn

Organic molecules in Titan's atmosphere are intriguingly skewed

Work completed on satellite launch center in Hainan

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