Category Archives: Lunar Science

Friday / 23 August 2013

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Lunar Water Talk At Lunar & Planetary Institute

LPI Water Moon

Michael Poston Georgia Tech Chemist Gives Update On Modern Lunar Water At LPI In Houston TX; IR Spectroscopy & Neutron Depletion Remote Sensing Data Support Idea Of Hydroxyl & Water Loss, Migration, Replenishment Cycle Each Lunar Day; Will Discuss Origins & Retention Mechanisms Of Volatiles, Discrepancy Of Water-Ice In Permanently Shadowed Regions, Apollo Sample Experiments, Solar Wind & Lunar Regolith Interactions

Image Credit: LPI, NASA, JHU/APL, CIW, NAIC, Arecibo Observatory

Wednesday / 21 August 2013

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Students Getting Involved In LADEE Mission

StudentLADEE

LADEE Partnering With Lewis Center For Educational Research & NASA JPL To Provide Students Opportunity To Help Track & Monitor Status Of Spacecraft In Flight; Students Will Remotely Control 34-M Goldstone Apple Valley Radio Telescope From Their Classrooms To Determine Status & Position Of Craft; University Of Hawaii-Hilo Raising Funds To Send Intern Krystal Schlechter To Witness 6 Sep LADEE Launch From Wallops Flight Facility In VA

Image Credit: NASA, lewiscenter.org/gavrt/, imiloahawaii.org

 

 

Tuesday / 20 August 2013

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Wargo Crater?

WargoCrater

After Unexpected Passing Of Long-Time NASA Lunar Scientist Mike Wargo, NASA Officials Petitioning IAU To Name Crater On Moon In His Honor; Initiative Sets Precedent For Those Seeking / Deserving A Lunar Presence In Some Form, Advances ‘Put Your Name On Moon’ Campaigns Of LRO, ILOA Lunar Missions To Another Level; High-Def Images Captured By Lunar Probes Reveal Millions Of Craters On Moon, Many Yet Unnamed 

 Image Credit: NASA, IAU

Weekend Edition / Fri-Mon 16-19 Aug 2013

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Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter: 4 Years & Counting

LRO4Years

Innovative NASA Moon Orbiter Completes 3 Years Of Its Extended Science Mission, Additional Extension Likely As Probe Has Delivered Unprecedented Amount Of Data / Images; LRO Has Orbited Moon Over 18,000 Times, Traveling Over 200M Km, Produced Over 434 Terabytes Of Data, Laser Altimeter Conducted Over 6B Topographic Measurements; LRO Expected To Continue To Send Back Data Until Oct 2014, Though Additional 2 Years Possible

Image Credit: NASA

Friday / 9 August 2013

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Moon Interior May Be Wetter Than Believed

Water Moon

Amit Sarbadhikari Member Of PLANEX Group At Physical Research Laboratory In Ahmedabad, India Conducts New Study On Moon Rocks; Lunar Rock-15555 & Others Indicate Moon Interior May Be Wetter Than Previously Believed Due To Varying Levels Of Water In Volcanic Glass Beads, Olivine-Hosted Melt Inclusions, Accessory Phase Apatite; Concentration Of Volatiles Over Entire Moon Still Uncertain

Image Credit: Worth1000.com, NASA, PRL

Weekend Edition / Fri-Mon 2-5 August 2013

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Research Institute Gets New Name, Expands Focus To Entire Solar System

SSERVI0813

NASA Lunar Science Institute In Mountain View CA Changes Name To Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI); Name Change Reflects Natural 21st Century Advance Of Human Exploration Goals, Building Out From Vital Well-Developed Cislunar Foundation To Include Vast Resources & Promising Research / Exploration / Human Settlement Potential Of Asteroids, Mars, Jupiter / Saturn Moons & Beyond

Image Credit: NASA

Tuesday / 9 July 2013

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Interplanetary CubeSats Could Open Possibilities For Lunar Exploration

CATcubesat0713

0.5-kg CubeSat Ambipolar Thruster (CAT) Could Propel 5-kg Cubesats To Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Beyond For 1/1000 Of Current Mission Costs; University Of Michigan Team Led By Benjamin Longmier Fundraising To Test New CAT Plasma Engine That Could Open Solar System For CubeSats; International Workshop On Implications & Opportunities Arising With Advent Of LunarCubes Set For 13 Nov 2013 In Palo Alto CA, USA

Image Credit: Kickstarter, lunarcubes.com

Wednesday / 3 July 2013

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Lunar Telerobotic Mission Demonstrated By ISS Astronaut

BurnsTest0713

Astronaut Chris Cassidy Pilots NASA Rover For 3 Hours Across Mock Lunar Surface At Ames Research Center; Remotely Directed Robot Unfurled ‘Antenna Film’ Developed By Jack Burns / University Of Colorado Boulder Scientists For Lunar Farside Radio Telescope Mission Concept; Burns & Team Hope To See Rover / Radio Telescope Deployed By Similar Telerobotic Technique Via Orion Mission To Earth-Moon L2

Image Credit: NASA, lunar.colorado.edu

Tuesday / 2 July 2013

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LADEE Mission Seeks Help From Amateur Astronomers

LadeeAmateurNight

LADEE Teaming Up With ALPO Lunar Meteoritic Impact Search Program In Call To Watch For Impacts On Moon; Dedicated Amateurs Require Telescope With Minimum 20cm Aperture, Video Recording Equipment, LunarScan Program, Ability To Continually Monitor Moon During Lunar Night; Micro-Meteoroid Issues Of Crucial Importance For Long-Duration Human Habitation Of Moon; LADEE To Launch 5 Sep, 1st Mission From Wallops Island VA To Venture Beyond LEO

Image Credit: NASA

Wednesday / 26 June 2013

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Lunar Science Conference Goes Virtual

VirtualNLSF13

15-19 July 2013 NASA Lunar Science Forum To Be Broadcast Via Adobe Connect & Telecom Line; Updates On Current & Future NASA Moon Missions, Lunar Geology, Volatiles, Dust, Astrophysics From The Moon; Ben Bussey To Speak On Potential Benefits Of Human Exploration Of Poles; NLSI Will Transition To Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute Later In 2013 

Image Credit: NASA, JAXA