Moon Exploration and Science News

March 16, 2015

Researchers study methane-rich plumes from Saturn's icy moon Enceladus
San Antonio TX (SPX) Mar 16, 2015
NASA's Cassini spacecraft has measured a curious abundance of methane spewing into the atmosphere of Saturn's icy moon Enceladus. A team of American and French scientists published findings in Geophysical Research Letters suggesting two scenarios that could explain the methane abundance observed in the plumes. In 2005 Cassini's magnetometer and imaging data revealed the surprising existence of geysers in the south polar region ejecting water vapor into space. Scientists now believe that Enceladus ... read more

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Russia Plans to Start Moon Exploration Jointly With Partners Russia plans to start exploring Earth's moon alongside partners from other states, a senior Russian space official said Thursday. Last month, Russian space agency Roscosmos said it hoped to se ... more		China's Yutu rover reveals Moon's "complex" geological history The moon's geological history is more complex than previously thought, preliminary results from China's first lunar rover, Yutu, suggested Thursday. Ground-penetrating radar measurements taken ... more		Russia Plans to Adapt New Angara-5 Rocket for Flights to the Moon Russia's new Angara-A5 carrier rocket could be modified for use in future Moon missions, Federal Space Agency Roscosmos said Thursday. "We recommend that the Khrunichev space center (Angara-5 ... more
				Exploring the Depths of Titan's Seas In our solar system, there are only two planetary bodies with liquid lakes and seas-Earth and Titan, a moon of Saturn. But instead of water, Titan lakes are made of liquid methane with temperatures ... more		Saturn moon's ocean may have hydrothermal activity A new study by a team of Cassini mission scientists led by the University of Colorado Boulder have found that microscopic grains of rock detected near Saturn imply hydrothermal activity is taking pl ... more

Human 2 Mars Conference Mat 5-7 2015 - Washington DC

Nuclear Decommissioning Conference Europe May 2015

Hot water activity on icy moon's seafloor Tiny grains of rock detected by the international Cassini spacecraft orbiting Saturn point to hydrothermal activity on the seafloor of its icy moon Enceladus. The finding adds to the tantalising pos ... more		UK skies set to dim in decade's deepest solar eclipse On 20 March a total eclipse of the Sun will take place, visible from the North Atlantic Ocean. Observers in the UK and Ireland will see a partial solar eclipse, with up to 97% of the Sun blocked out ... more		Greenland truce or Trump win? Davos "framework" pauses tariffs but not the takeover boasts Greenlanders doubtful over Trump resolution EU says ready to sign defence and security pact with India		Billionaire Teams Up with NASA to Mine the Moon Another player in the field of commercial space travel, a California-based company just made a major stride toward the creation of the first commercial robotic spacecraft to be sent to the moon. It' ... more
				China Gets One Step Closer to Completing its Ambitious Lunar Mission China successfully tested unmanned docking on the lunar orbit this week to determine whether key technology planned to be used in its Chang'e-5 mission to the Moon was working, according to the Stat ... more		China's test spacecraft simulates orbital docking China has run tests close to the moon simulating an unmanned docking procedure needed in the country's next lunar mission. The service module of the unmanned lunar orbiter currently in space t ... more

China has ability but no plan for manned lunar mission: expert The world's third country to softland on the moon has the ability to achieve the manned lunar landing but it has no plan to do it, a leading Chinese space scientist said Friday. "With China's ... more		Fastest Star in Our Galaxy Propelled by a Thermonuclear Supernova A team of astronomers, including University of Hawaii at Manoa astronomer Eugene Magnier, used the 10-meter Keck II and Pan-STARRS1 telescopes in Hawaii to find a star that breaks the galactic speed ... more		Trump vows to relaunch Egypt-Ethiopia talks on dam row China's birth rate falls to lowest on record Chile police arrest suspect over deadly wildfires		Mars Colonization Edges Closer Thanks to MIT's Oxygen Factory Scientists at The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are building an instrument, which will turn carbon dioxide on Mars into oxygen, with NASA planning to use it on their 2020 mission to Ma ... more
China at technical preparation stage for Mars, asteroid exploration China has been researching the technical feasibility of exploring Mars and asteroids, a top space scientist and national political advisor revealed on Tuesday. Ye Peijian, from the China Acade ... more		China's moon rover Yutu functioning but stationary China's first lunar rover Yutu (the Jade Rabbit) is still working but cannot move, a scientist with the lunar probe mission told Xinhua. The rover, named after the pet of a Chinese goddess who ... more		Could Ionized Gas Do A Better Job of Sterilizing Spacecraft Earth's microbes are a hardy bunch. They can survive in extreme environments, such as inside hot springs at the bottom of the ocean. Some have even remained alive despite being exposed to the ultrav ... more		How The Code Of Life Passed Through Primitive Kinds Of Cells Life's origins are a mystery, but every year scientists get a little bit closer to understanding what made life possible on Earth, and possibly on other planets or moons. We only have one know ... more

	Core work: Iron vapor gives clues to formation of Earth and moon Recreating the violent conditions of Earth's formation, scientists are learning more about how iron vaporizes and how this iron rain affected the formation of the Earth and Moon. The study is publis ... more		Life 'not as we know it' possible on Saturn's moon Titan A new type of methane-based, oxygen-free life form that can metabolize and reproduce similar to life on Earth has been modeled by a team of Cornell University researchers. Taking a simultaneou ... more

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