Tag: Moon
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Last man to walk on the moon, Gene Cernan, leaves behind a dying wish
Apollo 17’s Gene Cernan wears a spacesuit smeared with lunar dirt in 1972. (NASA Photo) Apollo 17 commander Gene Cernan, the last human to leave footprints on the moon, passed away today – but his family says his dying wish remains to be fulfilled. “Even at the age of 82, Gene was passionate about sharing his desire…
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Moon Express reportedly has the money for moonshot – but launch is up in the air
An artist’s conception shows Moon Express’ lander extending its robotic arm to take a “selfie” of the spacecraft on the lunar surface with Earth in the background. (Credit: Moon Express) An executive at Moon Express has been widely quoted as saying his company has reached its funding goal for this year’s planned commercial mission to the…
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Planet Earth observed through telescope orbiting Mars
Here is a view of Earth and its moon, as seen from Mars. It combines two images acquired on Nov. 20, 2016, by the HiRISE camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, with brightness adjusted separately for Earth and the moon to show details on both bodies. Relative sizes and distance are correct. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of…
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China lays out plans to put probe on moon’s far side in 2018 – and on Mars in 2020
An artist’s conception shows the Chang’e 4 spacecraft landing on the moon. (CCTV via YouTube) China’s latest white paper on space exploration confirms the country’s plans to send a rover to the moon’s far side in 2018 and put a rover on Mars in 2020. Today’s white paper, released by the State Council Information Office, says the…
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XPRIZE clears Japan’s Team Hakuto for moon mission with India’s Team Indus
Japan’s Team Hakuto is testing two small rovers known as Tetris (left foreground) and Moonraker (right background). The rovers would ride along with Team Indus’ spacecraft. (Team Hakuto Photo) The rocketeers on Japan’s Team Hakuto say they’ve gotten the Google Lunar XPRIZE’s seal of approval on its plans for a mission to the moon. The…
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You’ll get a howl out of this: Supermoon turns Buzz Aldrin into American Werewolf
This week’s supermoon has been pretty much clouded out in Seattle, but it appears to have had an effect on Apollo 11 moonwalker Buzz Aldrin. In a Twitter update, the 86-year-old space icon mugged for the camera, werewolf-style, and said it took all his willpower to stop from howling. Took all my will power yesterday…
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This supermoon will be extra-super
Seattle photographer Tim Durkan captured this view of the full moon behind the Space Needle. (Credit: TimDurkan.com) The full moon is looking bigger and brighter this week than it’s looked since 1948 – and although you may not notice just how much more super this “supermoon” is, it’s definitely worth looking up. If the skies are…
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NASA keeping human spaceflight options open as Trump presidency looms
Artist’s concept of the Orion spacecraft during a lunar flyby maneuver on its planned unpiloted test flight in 2018. Credit: NASA NASA is taking steps to rein in costs, emphasizing bonds with private sector companies, and signaling it might be open to a future where the agency’s flagship Orion deep space capsule and Space Launch…
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NASA puts out call for lunar experiments, and Moon Express says it’ll help pay
An artist’s conception shows a Moon Express lander in lunar orbit. (Credit: Moon Express) NASA wants suggestions for experiments that can be sent to the moon on commercial spacecraft – and Moon Express, one of the companies building those spacecraft, wants to kick in up to $500,000 per experiment. The experiments would be aimed at filling the…
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China developing mission to return samples from far side of the moon
Illustration of the far side of the moon, with Earth in the background. Credit: NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio If China’s lunar exploration program goes according to plan, scientists could send a robotic lander to pick up samples from the far side of the moon and return them to Earth by the early 2020s, a top…