moon

NASA has announced a new contract opportunity that will involve it purchasing Moon dust (called regolith) and rocks from a private space company. The intention was announced by NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine in a post this week, with the official stating that utilizing private companies under its Artemis lunar program will help it save money and access new innovations developed by these companies. The new contract is part of this effort.

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In the latest evolution of its Artemis lunar efforts, NASA has announced that it wants its previously announced private space partners to bid on which will get to launch a future payload to the Moon. Assuming everything goes according to plan, NASA anticipates the winning company launching its new Moon payloads in 2022, a full two years ahead of the agency's deadline for returning humans to the Moon.

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Scientists are currently investigating why the surface of the moon is rusting. What baffles scientists so much is that there is no air or water on the moon, which are both required for hematite, which is a type of rust, to form. The new study looks at data gathered by the Indian Space Research Organization's Chandrayaan-1 orbiter.

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If you think sand is annoying, wait until you hear astronauts describe their experiences with Moon dust. The substance is apparently easy to kick up into the environment, causing it to settle all over the place: on suits, in vehicles, and other places it could end up being a problem. How will future astronauts, particularly ones stationed on the lunar surface for long periods of time, deal with this nuisance?

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Scientists and visionaries around the world foresee a future where mankind colonizes the moon and Mars. One major question that has to be answered before colonization can happen is how to create structures that humans can live inside and be protected from the radiation and lack of habitable atmosphere in both locations. Researchers from the universities of Bologna and Padua have studied the subsurface cavities that lava created underground on Mars and the Moon. They have determined that they are wide enough that they could host planetary bases.

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There are a few things you never see in movies that are about space travel. One of those is how exactly astronauts go to the bathroom. Imagine how astronauts that took part in the Apollo moon missions went to the bathroom while they were in orbit and on the surface of the moon. Astronauts aboard the ISS have a complicated toilet system that captures human waste. NASA is set to hold a contest to build a better toilet for astronauts participating in the future Artemis mission to the moon.

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Few countries have ever successfully landed on the surface of the moon, and one of the countries to do so was China with the Yutu-2 rover. That rover found something interesting on the surface of the moon that has puzzled scientists, and the mystery has finally been solved. Inside a small impact crater on the far side of the moon, Yutu-2 discovered a strange and shiny gel-like substance.

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NASA has selected four small companies in the US to 'mature' tech for its upcoming Artemis Moon missions. The combined value of these follow-on contracts will amount to around $17 million, according to the space agency, which previously awarded the companies contracts to develop and demonstrate these technologies. NASA anticipates the contracts helping speed up the development of Moon tech that it needs to meet its deadlines.

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A team of researchers at NASA who were hunting for ice inside of polar craters made an unexpected finding that researchers believe could help clear up some of the mystery behind the Moon's formation. The researchers are the members of the Miniature Radio Frequency (Mini-RF) instrument team on the NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. The researchers found evidence that the subsurface of the Moon might be more abundant in metals such as iron and titanium than previously believed.

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NASA has launched another challenge for the public, this one seeking concepts for a toilet design that could be used by astronauts on the Moon. Suitably called the Lunar Loo challenge, this competition is offering up $35,000 in prizes for teams who propose effective designs for toilets that can operate in both microgravity and lunar gravity environments.

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NASA has named the company which will take its new Moon rover up to play on the lunar surface, paving the way for a crewed mission by hunting for potential resources for future astronauts. The $199.5 million contract for NASA VIPER was awarded to Astrobotic, which plans to use its Griffin lunar lander to safely take the rover out to its new home.

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NASA has struck a deal with Northrop Grumman that tasks the company with designing the first crew module for the future Gateway lunar outpost. Once completed and launched, this orbiting outpost will be the base station for planned future missions on the Moon, including a place where astronauts can live and perform experiments. The Gateway is part of NASA's larger mission to return to the Moon and increase its work on Mars.

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