Tag: Moon
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Blue Origin’s lunar lander program wins a share of NASA’s ‘tipping-point’ tech awards
An artist’s conception shows Blue Origin’s Blue Moon lander on the lunar surface. (Blue Origin Illustration) NASA is awarding $44 million to six commercial partners to support “tipping-point” technologies that range from lunar landing capabilities to in-space refueling and spacecraft servicing. Blue Origin, the space venture that was founded by Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos and…
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Moonrise, moonset and Mars: Photos hit the high points at Mount Rainier
Mars (far left) and the full moon get together over Mount Rainier on the night of July 26-27. Click on the image for a larger version. (Photo by Kevin Lisota) MOUNT RAINIER NATIONAL PARK, Wash. — Warm weather, clear skies and a full moon brought me out in search of two of my favorite shots…
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It’s prime time for watching Mars – plus a total lunar eclipse that you can see online
A global dust storm covers Mars’ disk in this image from the Hubble Space Telescope, captured on July 18. The planet’s two small moons, Deimos (left) and Phobos (right), appear in the lower half of the image. (NASA / ESA / STScI Photo) It’s no hoax: Mars is bigger and brighter in the night sky…
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Life on the moon? It could have happened billions of years ago, astrobiologists say
The moon passes right across Earth’s disk in a 2015 image captured by the DSCOVR satellite from its observation point, a million miles out in space. (NASA / NOAA Photo) The moon is one of the last places in the solar system you’d expect to find life today, but astrobiologists say life could have found…
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To the moon? Israel’s SpaceIL says SpaceX will launch team’s lunar lander this year
News Brief: SpaceIL, an Israeli team that was once a competitor in the now-defunct Google Lunar X Prize, says it will have its lander launched toward the moon in December. The lander will be a secondary payload on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket taking off from Florida, the team said today in a news release. The plan…
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Simulated moon dirt is turning up some real challenges for future lunar missions
Off Planet Research’s co-owners, Vince Roux and Melissa Roth, hold samples of lunar dirt and moon rocks. (GeekWire Photo / Alan Boyle) RENTON, Wash. — When commercial ventures start setting up shop on the moon, they may well run into nasty clouds of grit that clog up airways and gum up equipment. Those are just the…
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Buzz Aldrin shares latest space vision even as questions swirl about his state of mind
Apollo 11 moonwalker Buzz Aldrin acknowledges that the change in tone on his Twitter account has “unfortunately resulted in an exchange or two.” (Buzz Aldrin via Twitter) Buzz Aldrin wants people to know that he has some cool new ideas about how to get to the moon — not just because they’re cool, but also…
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Russia’s Luna-Glob faces technical, political and ballistic issues
Russia’s next attempt to leave Low Earth Orbit is currently scheduled to liftoff at the end of next year. However, it may be delayed by two years because of a technical issue combined with ballistic and political problems. The Luna-Glob probe will land near the Moon’s South Pole, in the Boguslawsky crater, and is also…
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Russia’s Luna-Glob faces technical, political and ballistic issues
Russia’s next attempt to leave Low Earth Orbit is currently scheduled to liftoff at the end of next year. However, it may be delayed by two years because of a technical issue combined with ballistic and political problems. The Luna-Glob probe will land near the Moon’s South Pole, in the Boguslawsky crater, and is also…
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NASA puts out the call for partners to build the first piece of Gateway space station
An artist’s conception shows a spacecraft that incorporates a solar electric propulsion system. (NASA Illustration) NASA has laid out its plan for acquiring the first piece of its successor to the International Space Station, an outpost known as the Gateway that will be stationed in lunar orbit. A draft solicitation, published today, calls for commercial…