Twin Probes Ebb & Flow To Impact Moon Surface On 17 Dec Ending Successful US$496M Mission; Launched Sep 2011, Crafts Arrived In Lunar Orbit Last New Year’s Eve / New Year’s Day; Provided Ultra-Precise Measurements To Construct Accurate Map Of Lunar Gravity Field; Showed Moon Crust Completely Pulverized Suggesting More Violent Early History Of Inner Solar System Than Previously Believed; NASA To Host Press Conference 13 Dec To Discuss Impact
Image Credit: NASA, ESA
Peter Kokh Speculates On Plausibility Of Telepresence Tours Of Moon In Moon Miners’ Manifesto Nov 2012 Issue #260; Predicts Telepresence Technology Could Advance Through Private Enterprise Investment; By 2019 ‘Moon Telepresence Booths’ Could Allow Public To Experience Working On Moon; Would Increase Interest / Support Of Lunar Exploration, Technology Could Also Be Used In Science / Exploration
Image Credit: NASA, Moon Society, howstuffworks.com
KSC Physicist John Lane Working On Project To Track Lunar Dust / Protect Apollo Sites From Future Moon Landers; Lane Used Terrestrial Rain Drops As Analog To Calibrate Laser Sensor, Consequently Discovered System Could Improve Rainfall Measurements / Weather Forecasting; NASA Considering Placing Laser Sensor On GLXP Team Lander To Help Formulate Restrictions For Future Landers Concerning Safe Distance From Apollo Sites
Image Credit: NASA, Popular Mechanics
Recently Released Results From Mercury Mission MESSENGER Indicate Plentiful Deposits Of Water Ice At Its Poles 10-20cm Thick; Similar To Moon, Deposits Are Collected In Deep Impact Craters; UCLA Professor David Paige Says Studying Moon Poles Helped Researchers Develop Techniques To Research Water On Mercury; Findings Of Water On Harsh Environments Of Moon & Mercury Indicate Water Ice Is Common Component In Solar System / Universe
Image Credit: UCLA, NASA
Top Russia Space Officials Indicating Country Moving Focus From ISS To Moon Exploration; ISS Is ‘Closed Chapter In Russia Science‘; 3 Russia Moon Missions Planned For 2015-2017: Polar Lander, Circumlunar Mission, Mission To L2; Russia Scientists At CIS Interparliamentary Assembly Seeking Assistance From Ukraine & Kazakh Colleagues In Moon Research Program
Image Credit: Roscosmos, NASA, flags.com
Jack Burns To Provide Update On NLSI Lunar University Network For Astrophysics Research (LUNAR) Activities; Team Of Researchers, Students, NASA Centers & Federal Research Labs Investigating Use Of Moon As Platform For Space Science; LUNAR Team Exploring Technologies That Serve Both Exploration & Science; Research Areas Include Lunar Laser Ranging, Low-Frequency Cosmology & Astrophysics, New Human / Robotic Mission Concepts
Image Credit: NASA, NLSI
Annual PISCES Conference Underway In Waikoloa HI; Program Expanding With Recent US$2.34M Investment From State; New Director Rob Kelso Says New Vision For PISCES Includes Research Of: Basalt-Based ‘Lunar Concrete’, Lava Tube Exploration, Testing Habitation Modules & GLXP Lunar Rovers; Goal Is To Become ‘Aerospace Enterprise Zone’ Supporting Planetary Surface Exploration
Image Credit: PISCES, NASA, White Label Space
US$504M Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Has Already Gathered As Much Data As All Other Planetary Missions Combined; Recent LRO Images / Data Of 2.2-Km-Wide Linné Crater (27.7°N 11.8°E) Helping Scientists Understand Evolution Of Impact Craters On Earth, Other Rocky Bodies; RESOLVE Lunar Rover Likely To Be Launched In 2017 To Find Water / Other Resources Useful For Space Exploration
Image Credit: NASA
China Robotic Lunar Lander Mission Chang’e-3 Passes Thermal Dynamic Trials, Testing Key Mechanical Performance Of The Lander Prior To Trial Run Of Propulsion System; New Superconducting Receiver Developed By 16th Research Institute, China Electronic Corporation Installed In New Deep Space Monitor And Ground Control Station; Receiver Expected To Also Support Future Mars Mission
Image Credit: CNSA, CLEP
NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter LAMP (Lyman Alpha Mapping Project) Spectrometer Sensed Noble Gas Helium For The First Time, Say Scientists From SWRI; Principal Investigator Alan Stern Points To Bigger Question Of Whether Helium Comes From Interior Source Such As Radioactive Decay Or From Solar Wind; 1972 Apollo 17 LACE (Lunar Atmosphere Composition Experiment) In Situ Measurements Agree With Findings / Point To Future Search For Argon
Image Credit: NASA, NASA Goddard/Debbie McCallum