Category Archives: Water on Moon

Tuesday / 16 April 2013

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RESOLVE: Ambitious Mission On Tight Budget / Timeline

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With US$250M Budget Cap 2017 RESOLVE Mission Needs To Achieve Ambitious Goals Within Challenging Timeline; Unable To Afford Nuclear Power, Solar-Powered RESOLVE Will Be Limited To 5 Active Days On Lunar Pole To Accomplish Mission Goals: Search For Hydrogen, Drill 1 Meter, Analyze Sample, Heat To Extract Liquid Water, Demonstrate How Oxygen Can Be Pulled From Regolith & Mixed With Hydrogen To Produce Water, Help Determine Origin Of Lunar Water

Image Credit: NASA

Weekend Edition / Fri-Mon 22-25 Mar 2013

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How To Illuminate A Permanent Shadow

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New NASA Goddard Video Shows How LRO Instruments Have Mapped Moon Polar Craters, Which Have Not Seen Sun For Over 2B Years Due To 1.6-Degree Lunar Tilt; LOLA Uses Lasers To Compose Topographic Maps; LAMP Measures Faint Light Of Other Stars; Diviner Measures Extreme Cold Temperatures; LEND Measures Speed Of Neutrons To Detect Elements Such As Hydrogen

Image Credit: NASA

Thursday / 21 March 2013

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LRO Helps Enhance GRAIL Legacy

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GRAIL Impact Craters Imaged By LROC; Twin 200-kg Orbiters Crashed Near North Pole On 17 Dec 2012 At Speed Of 6,070 km/h; Coordination Between 2 Mission Teams Allowed LRO LAMP Instrument To Analyze Ejecta Plume From Crash; Instrument Detected Mercury, Surprising For Sunlit Area; Results Added To Growing Understanding Of Nature Of Volatiles At Lunar Poles & How They Are Transported Around Moon

Image Credit: NASA

Wednesday / 20 March 2013

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Characterizing The Lunar Poles: Ben Bussey Seminar

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Ben Bussey Of John Hopkins University APL Presenting Data – Acquired By Recent Fleet Of International Lunar Spacecraft – Characterizing Moon Poles, 27 Mar At NASA Lunar Science Institute In CA, USA; Results Useful For Planning Future Robotic & Human Missions; Geology Of Poles, Surface & Subsurface Properties, Possibilities For Surface Operations / Regolith Excavation / Drilling & Potential Instrumentation Needed For Science From / On Moon

Image Credit: NASA

Thursday / 7 March 2013

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Moon Crater Rover System Development In Germany

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German Research Centers ZARM & DFKI Robotics Innovation Center Developing Robotic System For Lunar Crater Exploration; RIMRES (Reconfigurable Integrated Multi-Robot Exploration System) Project Consists Of 2.4-m / 200-kg SHERPA Rover (R) Which Uses Hybrid Wheel-Leg System To Transport 1-m / 27-kg CREX Hexapod Robot (L) Capable Of Descending 80⁰ Crater Slopes, Conduct Science Investigations; All Modules Connected Via Electromechanical Interface

Image Credit: DFKI, ZARM

Friday / 1 March 2013

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Shackleton Fueling Human Exploration To Moon & Beyond

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Shackleton Energy COO Jim Keravala, To Be Featured At 2013 CSCA National Conference, Says Water Estimated At Moon North Pole Could Fuel A Shuttle Launch Every Day For 2,200 Years; Company Plans To Create Fuel Depot Stations On Moon & In LEO By 2020; Will Launch 2 Robotic Prospectors To Lunar Poles By 2016; If Resource Extraction For Propellant Appears Profitable Will Send 6-12 Humans To Surface To Establish Base

Image Credit: J. Keravala/Shackleton Energy

Wednesday / 20 February 2013

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Wet Moon Rocks Challenge Moon Origin Theory

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Analysis Of Apollo Moon Rocks –  Led By Hejiu Hui Of University Of Notre Dame – Throws Moon Origin Theory Into Question; Modern Instruments Able To Detect 6 ppm Of Water In Interior Of Genesis (R) & Other Apollo Rocks Once Thought To Be Dry; Researchers Estimate Early Moon Magma Contained Up To 320 ppm; Impact Theory Of Moon Formation (L) Does Not Account For These Damp Findings 

Image Credit: nasa.gov, nd.edu

Wednesday / 13 February 2013

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CSCA Brings Space / Lunar Entrepreneurs, Mining Industry Together

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Canadian Space Commerce Association 2013 National Conference On 7 March In Toronto, Ontario, Canada; What Can Space Companies Learn From Canada Mining Industry & Vice Versa? Speakers Include Dale Boucher Of NORCAT, Robert Richards Of Moon Express, Rick Tumlinson (T) Of Deep Space Industries Inc., Peter Visscher (B) Of Artemis Jr / RESOLVE Project, Space Law Experts Ram Jakhu & Melissa Force 

Image Credit: CSCA

Thursday / 31 January 2013

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Moon Mining Robot Development Advancing

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Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot (RASSOR) Designed By NASA To Extract Water, Ice, For Fuel & Life Support From Regolith On Moon Or Other Dusty Bodies; 45kg, 0.75m-Tall Device Designed As Feeder For Lunar Resource Processing Plant; Current Design Likely To Evolve With Roll Out Of RASSOR-2 In Early 2014 For Testing

Image Credit: NASA

Wednesday / 16 January 2013

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Russia 2015 Moon Lander

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Roscosmos Head Vladimir Popovkin Says Russia Planning Luna-Glob Moon Lander Mission In 2015; Mission Will Be 1st From New US$1B Vostochny Cosmodrome In Far East Amur Region Of Russia; 1400-kg Spacecraft Will Place 500-kg Landing Module On South Pole Of Moon; Craft Will Carry Up To 25kg Of Scientific Equipment To Search For Water / Take Soil Samples, Yet Main Objective Of Mission Is To Achieve Landing On Another World / Moon

Image Credit: Roscosmos