Moon Exploration and Science News

March 31, 2015

Saturn Spacecraft Returns to the Realm of Icy Moons
Pasadena CA (JPL) Mar 31, 2015
A dual view of Saturn's icy moon Rhea marks the return of NASA's Cassini spacecraft to the realm of the planet's icy satellites. This follows nearly two years during which the spacecraft's orbits carried it high above the planet's poles. Those paths limited the mission's ability to encounter the moons, apart from regular flybys of Titan. Cassini's orbit will remain nearly equatorial for the remainder of 2015, during which the spacecraft will have four close encounters with Titan, two with Di ... read more

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Next Steps on Journey to Mars: Progress on Asteroid Initiative NASA Wednesday announced more details in its plan for its Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM), which in the mid-2020s will test a number of new capabilities needed for future human expeditions to deep s ... more		Europa's Elusive Water Plume Paints Grim Picture For Life 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 wo ... more		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

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

Nuclear Decommissioning Conference Europe May 2015

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		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		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		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		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		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		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

Quantum transport method reads open quantum states

Scientists uncover new quantum state that could power future technologies

Early universe dark matter born red hot before cooling

Hot water activity on icy moon's seafloor		Billionaire Teams Up with NASA to Mine the Moon		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

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