Planetary scientists from Brown University have developed a new remote-sensing technique to study a mineral called olivine on the moon. Researchers say that olivine could help them understand the early evolution of the moon and other planetary bodies. The mineral is important because it's understood to be a significant component of the interiors of rocky planets.
Halloween is here, and while the pandemic has messed up trick-or-treating for most people around the country, there is one treat that you can enjoy tonight. We mentioned a while back that tonight is a rare Blue Moon. A Blue Moon is the second full moon in a single month.
NASA is giving its VIPER lunar rover a pair of car-like floodlights that resemble the kind you may mount on your truck or Jeep for off-roading at night. The floodlights will be used to illuminate the darkest parts of the Moon, enabling the VIPER rover to hunt for water in places it would otherwise struggle to see. NASA has shown off one of its floodlight prototypes ahead of the mission.
SOFIA detected water on the sunlight surface of the moon for the first time in human history. It was previously known that water existed in some of the darkest and coldest regions on the moon. The big deal today is that there may be water available for use by humans on the surface and up to a meter below the surface of the moon.
The lunar rover portion of China's Chang'e-4 lunar probe recently had a milestone after traveling 565.9 meters, as of Saturday, since leaving the lander portion behind. According to the China National Space Administration, the lander and the rover have been switched to dormant mode for the lunar night after operating stably for the 23rd lunar day.
The NASA Human Landing System Program has completed a key milestone in progress towards sending the first humans back to the moon since the Apollo era. The Human Landing System (HLS) has conducted its Certification Baseline Reviews with three US companies competing to provide Landers to deliver Artemis astronauts to the moon.
This afternoon, NASA revealed they'd discovered something "new" and "exciting" about the Moon. They played a bit coy about said discovery, noting that they'll spill the whole cup of beans from the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) at a conference that'll take place at 12PM EDT on Monday, the 26th of October, 2020. We'll be covering that announcement as it happens.
NASA says that 4.5 billion years ago, the surface of our planet was extremely hot and unable to sustain life. The sun constantly bombarded the planet with solar flares and coronal mass ejections. Scientists at the space agency said that a neighboring shield could've helped the planet to retain its atmosphere and eventually transform into a habitable planet. The shield was the Moon, according to a NASA-led study published recently.
Blue Origin has announced that it has completed a successful New Shepard mission to space and back, making this the spacecraft's 13th mission. While the latest mission was the 13th overall, this is the seventh consecutive flight for the specific vehicle, which is a record. This flight was particularly important as there were 12 payloads onboard, including NASA Precision Lunar Landing technology.
A total of eight nations have signed on as the founders of NASA's Artemis Accords, an agreement in which the nations have vowed to work together peacefully in space. The agreement was reached as part of NASA's Artemis program, which is working around the clock on new lunar missions with the goal of returning humans to the Moon's surface in 2024. NASA calls the accord a 'step forward' in its efforts.
We're still many years away from casual consumer trips to the Moon, but it's easy to fantasize about such trips. NASA is getting in on the fun with a new campaign presenting the public with a simple question: what would you pack if you were taking your own lunar trip? NASA is encouraging anyone interested to share a picture of what's in their bag (for this imagined Moon trip) using its new #NASAMoonKit social campaign.
The year 2020 has 13 full moons, instead of 12. Two of these full moons will occur in the spookiest of months, October. The first of these full moons will occur on the first of October, 2020, starting at 5:05 PM (17:05) Eastern Time. Because this moon is so close to the Autumn Equinox, this is the 2020 Full Harvest Moon.