All of the samples from the moon that researchers worldwide study today were gathered during the Apollo era. The lunar samples seen in the image below were gathered by Apollo 16 in 1972. The samples are of lunar glass and were tested by scientists at the University of Rochester.
Early in the development of the moon, it was covered in an ocean of magma that covered its entire surface. Over time, that magma cooled and solidified with more dense material sinking to form the mantle layer, with the less dense material floating to the top forming the crust. The moon has been subjected to intense bombardment by asteroids and comets over its lifetime, some of which were able to pierce the crust and blasts pieces of the mantle from the moon's interior, and scatter them across its surface.
Decades-old images from the Apollo missions have cast new light - or, more accurately, new shadow - on NASA's hunt for water on the Moon, potentially paving the way to Artemis astronauts being more self-sufficient in a future lunar base. Although the Moon is usually thought of as dry and desolate, patches of water ice are believed to be present at the poles. New research, however, indicates that ice may be even more widespread.
Jeff Bezos, the founder of private space company Blue Origin, has penned an open letter to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson that talks about a recent controversy involving the agency and SpaceX while offering a new proposal: it'll cover up to $2 billion to get back into the Artemis program. As well, the company is offering to take on the burden of significant costs above the $2 billion figure.
NASA is currently working on putting a new lunar rover on the moon's surface, and part of that work is developing a map of where exactly the rover will travel. Knowing where the rover will drive is critically important to help avoid obstacles and get the rover close enough to objects of interest to perform its mission. VIPER, or Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, is part of the NASA Artemis program.
NASA may be taking astronauts back to the Moon, but it's the orbiting Gateway which will act as a space AirBnB for Artemis. A newly finalized deal will see Northrop Grumman develop the Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO), a home away from home for astronauts and what's expected to be an instrumental part of future missions including NASA's first crewed trip to Mars.
A few weeks ago, NASA asked the public to vote on their favorite name for the manikin (a type of human-sized dummy) that'll be used as part of the Artemis I lunar mission. Space fans spoke and now NASA is back with the final name for its latest manikin: Commander Moonikin Campos. Yes, that's right. Cmdr. Moonikin will be fitted with its own spacesuit and launched all by itself into space.
According to NASA, the lunar event referred to as the 'Strawberry Moon' started yesterday and will remain visible through early Saturday. It's common for these lunar events to get a unique name, some of them referring to the Moon's appearance but most to the nature of the seasons in which they occur. That is to say, don't expect the Strawberry Moon to look like a strawberry.
NASA has announced that it has chosen three different scientific payloads under the Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative, which is a component of the Artemis program. The Artemis program aims to send humans back to the moon for the first time since the Apollo era. One of the three missions NASA has chosen will be landing on the far side of the moon facing away from Earth.
The Moon has two 'sides,' one that perpetually faces the Earth and another that perpetually faces away from our planet. Many refer to this as the Moon's far side, one that hasn't gotten as much attention from scientists as the part we can directly observe. That has slowly changed, however, and now NASA plans to join the work.
The Moon is full of dust that, NASA learned during its Apollo missions, is a bigger issue than the dust you may encounter on Earth. Whereas Earth dust is generally eroded into dull, rounded shapes, the tiny dust particles on the lunar surface are sharp and glass-like, making them as damaging to equipment as they are to human lungs. Soon, though, NASA will start testing a solution to the problem.
A little more than a week after South Korea signed the Artemis Accords, NASA has announced that New Zealand is also on board with the commitment. According to the space agency, New Zealand Space Agency's Dr. Peter Crabtree signed the Artemis Accords on May 31, only a week after the Republic of Korea, making it the 11th country to join.