Moon Archives

November 3, 2022November 3, 2022 by Andy Tomaswick

Researchers Make Rocket Fuel Using Actual Regolith From the Moon

In-situ resource utilization is a hot topic these days in space exploration circles, and scientists and engineers have had a great advantage of getting access to new materials from bodies on the solar system that either have never been seen before, such as asteroids or haven’t been visited in decades, such as the moon. Recently, China’s Chang’e 5 brought back the first sample of lunar regolith to Earth in almost 50 years. Using part of that sample, researchers from several Chinese universities have developed an automated system to create rocket fuel and oxygen out of CO2, using the lunar regolith as a catalyst.

November 3, 2022November 3, 2022 by Matt Williams

The Moon had Volcanoes More Recently Than Previously Believed

New measurements of lunar rocks have demonstrated that the ancient moon generated a dynamo magnetic field in its liquid metallic core (innermost red shell). The results raise the possibility of two different mechanisms — one that may have driven an earlier, much stronger dynamo, and a second that kept the moon’s core simmering at a much slower boil toward the end of its lifetime. Credit: Hernán Cañellas/Benjamin Weiss

Fifty years ago, NASA and the Soviet space program conducted the first sample-return missions from the Moon. This included lunar rocks brought back to Earth by the Apollo astronauts and those obtained by robotic missions that were part of the Soviet Luna Program. The analysis of these rocks revealed a great deal about the Moon’s composition, formation, and geological history. In particular, scientists concluded that the rocks were formed from volcanic eruptions more than three billion years ago.

In recent years, there has been a resurgence in lunar exploration as NASA and other space agencies have sent robotic missions to the Moon (in preparation for crewed missions). For instance, China has sent multiple orbiters, landers, and rovers to the Moon as part of the Chang’e program, including sample-return missions. A new study led by planetary scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) analyzed samples obtained by the Chang’e-5 rover dated to two billion years ago. Their research could provide valuable insight into how young volcanism shaped the lunar surface.

November 2, 2022November 2, 2022 by Nancy Atkinson

Just Four Robots Could Deploy a Huge Radio Telescope on the Far Side of the Moon

FARSIDE Concept: Rendering that shows the initial stages of tethered-rover egress from a parent lander. Credit: XP4D, NASA JPL, and Blue Origin

For decades, astronomers have advocated building radio telescopes on the far side of the Moon. This “radio-quiet” zone always faces away from Earth and would provide the perfect location to study a variety of astronomical phenomena that can’t be observed in low radio frequencies from our planet, or even by Earth-orbiting space telescopes. But the costs and logistics of such a project have pushed most of these concepts to the realm of futuristic dreams.

But now a group of astronomers and engineers have worked out a concept for a radio telescope placed on the lunar far side that could be as large as 100 square kilometers across, and it could be deployed from a robotic lunar lander and four two-wheeled rovers.

October 25, 2022October 27, 2022 by Nancy Atkinson

Lucy Took This Picture of Earth as it was Making its Gravity Assist Maneuver

NASA’s Lucy spacecraft captured this image of the Earth on Oct 15, 2022 during the spacecraft's flyby of our planet for a gravitational assist on its way to explore the Jupiter Trojan asteroids. Credits: NASA/Goddard/SwRI

We may take it for granted, but every day we receive picture postcards from the robotic travelers we have sent out to explore our Solar System. Usually, we get to see faraway planets, moons, asteroids, or comets. But sometimes we get to see ourselves.

The Lucy spacecraft took a couple of amazing images of our home planet as the spacecraft was approaching Earth for the first of three slingshot gravity assists on its way out to explore the Trojan asteroids along Jupiter’s orbit.

October 19, 2022October 17, 2022 by Paul M. Sutter

2.46 Billion Years ago, a day on Earth was Only 17 Hours and the Moon was Much Closer

The ATV-4 is just visible as it passes into Earth's terminator. Credit: NASA TV.

As the ages pass the Moon slowly drifts away from the Earth. In conjunction the length of our day gradually gets longer. For the first time astronomers have been able to estimate the length of the day and the distance to the Moon as it was almost two and a half billion years ago. Back then, our day was only 17 hours long.

October 14, 2022October 14, 2022 by Andy Tomaswick

SpaceIL’s Beresheet 2 Lander Will try Growing Various Plants on the Moon

Where better to grow plants that on the Moon? Well, lots of places, to be honest, including almost everywhere on planet Earth. But that’s not going to stop people from trying to do so – especially as plants grown in space are going to be critical to any long-term space exploration program, and the Moon seems as good a place as any to do that. So the idea of a team of scientists from Australia, Israel, South Africa, and the US to grow some plants on the Moon by 2025 might not be as far-fetched as it seems.

October 12, 2022October 12, 2022 by Evan Gough

The Moon Might be One Large Chunk that was Blasted Off the Earth Billions of Years Ago

A new study and supercomputer simulations present an alternative explanation for the Moon. Yes, it formed from an impact, but it may not have taken years. Image Credit: NASA Ames Research Center

Where did the Moon come from?

The widely-accepted view is that the Moon is a result of an ancient collision between the young Earth and a Mars-sized planet named Theia about 4.5 billion years ago. The impact melted Earth and Theia and sent molten material into orbit around Earth, where it formed a rotating torus of molten rock. That rock eventually coalesced into the Moon. It’s called the Giant Impact Hypothesis, and isotopic evidence from Apollo moon rocks illustrates the link between Earth and its Moon.

Case closed?

Not so fast. There’ve always been problems with this hypothesis. Can a new study answer them?

October 12, 2022October 12, 2022 by Nancy Atkinson

Phew, NASA’s CAPSTONE is no Longer Tumbling in Space

Artist rendition of the CAPSTONE mission. Credit: Advanced Space.

Engineers with the trouble-plagued CAPSTONE mission to the Moon have made progress in stabilizing the spacecraft. A month ago, the microwave-oven-sized CAPSTONE (Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment) began tumbling and lost its orientation in space. But now, after weeks of painstaking and patient troubleshooting, team members successfully executed an operation to stop the spacecraft’s spin. NASA says this clears a major hurdle in returning the spacecraft to normal operations.

October 7, 2022October 7, 2022 by Laurence Tognetti

The Moon is the Perfect Spot for Humanity’s Offsite Backup

In a recent study, a collaborative team of researchers discuss the potential for future lunar settlers to establish a backup data storage system of human activity in the event of a global catastrophe on Earth that could be used to recover human civilization on a post-catastrophe planet. This comes as NASA’s Artemis missions plan to send people back to the Moon for the first time since 1972, coupled with current global events such as the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the War in Ukraine, with Russian President Vladimir Putin recently threatening nuclear war. Given the current state of world affairs, how important is it to establish a type of off-world data backup?

October 6, 2022October 6, 2022 by Carolyn Collins Petersen

NASA had Been Designing Lunar Bases for Decades Before Armstrong First Set Foot on the Moon

Moon base — Illustration of NASA astronauts on the lunar South Pole. Mission ideas we see today have at least some heritage from the early days of the Space Age. Credit: NASA

It’s only natural to look at the Moon and wonder what it would be like to live there. Thanks to Buzz Aldrin who landed there in 1969, we know it’s a magnificent desolation. Even before the Apollo missions science fiction writers and scientists knew how desolate the place was. But, as far back as the late 19th Century, they also saw it as a natural outpost. So did NASA, the former Soviet Union, and their respective militaries. And, that led to people on both sides drawing up elaborate plans for Moon bases.