Moon Exploration and Science News

March 25, 2015

Europa's Elusive Water Plume Paints Grim Picture For Life
Moffett Field CA (SPX) Mar 25, 2015
A meteorite may have been responsible for a water plume briefly spotted above Europa two years ago, implying it takes a very rare event to breach the ice on the Jovian moon. Astrobiologists worldwide received news in December 2013 that water vapor was detected in Hubble Space Telescope observations of Jupiter's moon Europa, which is considered one of the top potential locations in our solar system for life. Those results were published in the journal Science and led by Lorenz Roth, a planetary sci ... read more

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Titan's Atmosphere Created As Gases Escaped Core A decade ago, a tiny but mighty probe descended into the soupy atmosphere of Titan. This moon of Saturn is of great interest to astrobiologists because its chemistry and liquid cycle remind us of wh ... more		Extent of Moon's giant volcanic eruption is revealed Scientists have produced a new map of the Moon's most unusual volcano showing that its explosive eruption spread debris over an area much greater than previously thought. A team of astronomers ... more		MARSDROP Microprobes Could Expand Spacecraft Mission Capabilities Microprobes that piggyback on Mars-bound spacecraft could investigate areas currently unavailable to surface instruments, a Planetary Science Institute researcher said. The payload could be st ... more
				NASA's LRO Spacecraft Finds March 17, 2013 Impact Crater and More NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) acquired images of the lunar surface before and after the largest recorded explosion occurred on the surface. On March 17, 2013, an object the size of ... more		Extent of moon's giant volcanic eruption is revealed Scientists have produced a new map of the Moon's most unusual volcano showing that its explosive eruption spread debris over an area much greater than previously thought. A team of astronomers ... more

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

Nuclear Decommissioning Conference Europe May 2015

Yutu Changes Everything We Thought We Knew About Our Moon The "Jade Rabbit" discovered at least 9 subterranean layers beneath the lunar surface, 5 more than was previously thought. Scientists believe the layers are a result of ancient lava flow between str ... more		Private companies asked to join moon program China will open its lunar exploration program to private enterprises in an attempt to boost technological innovation and break State-owned companies' monopoly in the space field, according to the co ... more		Sidekick autonomy software guides YFQ-42A test mission for CCA program Infleqtion lists shares on NYSE as neutral atom quantum firm Top Chinese gaming companies continue to challenge		Moon crater named for aviator Amelia Earhart One of the largest craters on the moon was only recently discovered, thanks to the hard work of scientists at Purdue University. The crater's discovery was announced on Monday at the annual Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Texas. ... more
				Scientists fly kites on Earth to study Mars Scientists of the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory have taken to kites that they fly above lava flows blanketing the Hawaiian landscape to unravel the past mysteries that shape ... more		New clues from the dawn of the solar system A research group in the UA Lunar and Planetary Laboratory has found evidence in meteorites that hint at the discovery of a previously unknown region within the swirling disk of dust and gas known as ... more

Researchers study methane-rich plumes from Saturn's icy moon Enceladus 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 Geoph ... more		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		Solar-driven ionosphere charges may nudge stressed faults toward rupture Stable black carbon in mangrove soils boosts coastal climate role Low crystallinity iron minerals show promise for chromium cleanup and carbon storage		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		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		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

	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		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

AALTO plans Zephyr stratospheric hub in northern Australia and seeks local payload partners

Ancient guano drove Chincha coastal power

UAH lands first DARPA award for biological sciences department

China Gets One Step Closer to Completing its Ambitious Lunar Mission		China's test spacecraft simulates orbital docking		China has ability but no plan for manned lunar mission: expert		Fastest Star in Our Galaxy Propelled by a Thermonuclear Supernova		Mars Colonization Edges Closer Thanks to MIT's Oxygen Factory
China at technical preparation stage for Mars, asteroid exploration		China's moon rover Yutu functioning but stationary		Could Ionized Gas Do A Better Job of Sterilizing Spacecraft		How The Code Of Life Passed Through Primitive Kinds Of Cells		Core work: Iron vapor gives clues to formation of Earth and moon

Life 'not as we know it' possible on Saturn's moon Titan

For the first time, spacecraft catch a solar shockwave in the act

Apollo Lunar Samples Provide More Information on Early Earth Formation

Application of laser microprobe technology to Apollo samples refines lunar impact history

Let's Send a Private Mission to Europa, Expert Says

US Issuing Licenses for Mineral Mining on Moon

NASA releases video of the far side of the Moon

NASA Plans Mission to Look for Alien Life on Jupiter's Moon Europa

LRO finds lunar hydrogen more abundant on Moon's pole-facing slopes

Cassini Catches Titan Naked in the Solar Wind

Asteroid That Flew Past Earth Has Moon

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