Tag: Moon
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China lands sample return probe on moon
The shadow of one of Chang’e 5’s landing legs is visible in this image from the spacecraft after touching down on the moon Tuesday. Credit: CNSA A Chinese spacecraft successfully touched down on the moon Tuesday, beginning what engineers have described as the most challenging phase of the mission to drill, scoop, and seal rocks…
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China’s Chang’e 5 spacecraft enters lunar orbit
Artist’s illustration of the Chang’e 5 spacecraft’s initial elliptical orbit around the moon. Credit: CCTV Five days after taking off on a heavy-lift Long March 5 rocket, China’s Chang’e 5 sample return spacecraft entered orbit around the moon Saturday, moving into position for a descent to the lunar surface in a bid to gather specimens…
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China launches ambitious mission to return lunar material to Earth
A Long March 5 rocket lifts off from the Wenchang launch center Monday. Credit: CNSA/CLEP A heavy-lift Long March 5 rocket hurled a 9-ton Chinese spacecraft toward the moon Monday on a 23-day mission attempting to return lunar samples to Earth for the first time in 44 years. The nearly 20-story rocket fired off its…
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China set to attempt first lunar sample return mission in four decades
A Chinese Long March 5 rocket rolls out of its assembly building at the Wenchang launch base Nov. 17 with the Chang’e 5 spacecraft. Credit: CASC/CLEP Chinese scientists and engineers are counting down to launch of a heavy-lift Long March 5 rocket Monday with the Chang’e 5 mission, an ambitious attempt to land on the…
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WiBotic joins Astrobotic’s team to build wireless charging system for moon rovers
Astrobotic’s CubeRover prototype wheels over a simulated lunar surface. (Astrobotic via YouTube) Seattle-based WiBotic says it’s working on a wireless charging system and energy management software for moon rovers, in partnership with Astrobotic, Bosch and the University of Washington. The hardware and software for robotic lunar missions will build on the work that the UW…
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Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin venture fleshes out plans for 2023 cargo delivery to the moon
An artist’s conception shows the human landing system that’s being developed by Blue Origin and its industry partners in the foreground, and Blue Origin’s Blue Moon cargo lander in the far background. (Blue Origin Illustration) Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture is working on a landing system that could put astronauts on the…
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SOFIA: a telescope on the forefront of astrophysics research
From finding organic molecules in distant stars to discovering water on the sunlit surface of the Moon, NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) is at the forefront of scientific research — especially when it comes to the potential for life either developing or being sustained on bodies other than Earth. The latest studies from…
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Water molecules detected on moon’s sunlit surface, adding impetus to Artemis
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION This illustration highlights the Moon’s Clavius Crater with an illustration depicting water trapped in the lunar soil there, along with an image of NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) that found sunlit lunar water. Credits: NASA/Daniel Rutter Water molecules have been directly detected across sunlit regions of…
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Fresh studies boost hopes for water on the moon — and for Jeff Bezos’ lunar vision
The white box indicates the area of the moon’s Clavius Crater that was studied by SOFIA. (Honniball et al. / Nature Astronomy) Scientists have been turning up evidence for the existence of water on the moon for decades, but there’s always been a nagging doubt: Maybe the source of the chemical signatures of hydrogen and…
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NASA’s Boeing-built moon rovers are granted Washington state landmark status
Apollo 17’s lunar rover sits at its resting place at the Taurus-Littrow landing site in 1972. (NASA Photo) Three hot rods on the moon are now official Washington state historic landmarks, thanks to a unanimous vote by a state commission. The thumbs-up, delivered on Friday during a virtual public hearing organized by the Washington State…