A new camera designed for upcoming crewed missions to the moon has been tested by astronauts in lunar-like environments on Earth. The Handheld Universal Lunar Camera (HULC) was developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA’s Artemis imagery team. Made from off-the-shelf cameras, according to a statement from ESA, this prototype underwent testing in Lanzarote, Spain, as part of the PANGAEA training program, which prepares astronauts for future missions to the moon. As part of field science training, an international crew tested the capabilities of the camera in simulated…
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Watch NASA’s VIPER moon rover conquer a lunar ‘obstacle course’ (video)
NASA’s new moon rover prototype successfully completed an obstacle course simulating the rugged terrain of the lunar surface. The rover, called VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover), is expected to launch to the lunar south pole in November 2024 atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. To test the rover’s mobility, engineers at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland created a simulated lunar environment, including large rocks, steep slopes and deep craters. VIPER is slated to land on Mons Mouton, a mountain near the moon’s south pole. It will touch down…
Read MoreScientists want to make moon roads by blasting lunar soil with sunlight
Lunar dust could one day be fused into paved roads and landing pads on the moon using concentrated sunlight from huge lenses, scientists believe, thanks to experiments on Earth that used lasers to blast simulated lunar soil. Dust on the moon is largely made of lunar volcanic rock that cosmic impacts and radiation have blasted to a powder over millions of years. And though the moon typically appears white to us because of reflected sunlight, lunar soil is actually mostly dark gray. Whereas Earth has wind and water to erode…
Read More‘Ring of fire’ solar eclipse on Oct. 14: Will the weather cooperate?
Almost all of North America will experience a weird and dramatic event on Saturday (Oct. 14), when a partial eclipse of the sun will be visible. Depending on where you are, the sun will appear slightly dented, deeply crescent shaped or even ring-shaped. But skywatchers across the U.S. who are looking forward to viewing Saturday’s solar eclipse may run into a problem thanks to several unsettled weather systems that will predominate over the east-central part of the country, as well as along the Pacific coast. Along a path averaging 127…
Read MoreAxiom Space partners with fashion house Prada to design Artemis 3 moon suits
A new partnership is taking the concept of haute couture to new heights. Axiom Space, a Houston-based spaceflight services company, has joined forces with the Italian luxury fashion house Prada to design the spacesuits for the next astronauts to walk on the moon. “We are thrilled to partner with Prada on the Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit (AxEMU) spacesuit,” Michael Suffredini, CEO of Axiom, said in a statement. “Prada’s technical expertise with raw materials, manufacturing techniques and innovative design concepts will bring advanced technologies instrumental in ensuring not only the comfort…
Read MoreAll aboard! Train tugs Artemis 2 moon rocket parts to the NASA launch center (photos, video)
Rocket pieces for the first human moon mission in 50 years glided into their launch center via rail. NASA‘s massive rocket booster segments, too large to ship by other means, safely arrived at a Florida railyard for a “turning point” in launching Artemis 2 and four astronauts around the moon late next year, agency officials stated on Sept. 25. The boosters will support the agency’s powerful Space Launch System rocket during the moon mission’s launch in 2024. The SLS, the most powerful rocket ever built, will nevertheless require help from…
Read MoreNew wristwatch bridges Apollo to Artemis with touch of real moon dust
There is an allure to moon dust. Just like its unique adhesive properties, causing it to stick to everything it touches, it tends to draw the attention of everyone who sees it, regardless their walk of life. It is appropriate then that Col&MacArthur named its moon dust-infused timepiece the LUNAR1,622. “It’s the gravity on the moon,” said Sebastien Colen, founder and CEO of the Belgium-based watch company, referring to the numerical designation of their new release and the gravitational pull of the moon as compared to Earth. “Every time we…
Read MoreSee Jupiter meet up with a bright moon in the night sky tonight
Skywatchers who are out during the late evening hours on Sunday will almost certainly be attracted toward the eastern sky, where the two brightest visible objects at that hour will be readily evident. The moon, now a waning gibbous phase, will be poised near a brilliant silvery non-twinkling “star.” That object is not a star, however, but the largest planet in our solar system: Jupiter. Jupiter comes up over the eastern horizon just before 9 p.m. local daylight time. It rises about four minutes earlier each night, so by the end of October…
Read MoreBrilliant Harvest Moon, the last supermoon of 2023, wows stargazers around the world (photos)
The summer of 2023 has been a treat for full moon fans. Since July, we’ve seen four supermoons in a row, including the rare Super Blue Moon Moon of August and this weekend, the final supermoon of the year, the Harvest Moon of September, gave skywatchers the final lunar thrill of the season. When the moon is at or near its perigee, the closest point in its orbit with Earth, it can appear as much as 30% brighter and 14% larger in the sky, though it’s typically hard to spot…
Read MoreRadio telescope will launch to moon’s far side in 2025 to hunt for the cosmic Dark Ages
A small mission to test technology to detect radio waves from the cosmic Dark Ages over 13.4 billion years ago will blast off for the far side of the moon in 2025. The Lunar Surface Electromagnetic Experiment-Night mission, or LuSEE-Night for short, is a small radio telescope being funded by NASA and the U.S. Department of Energy with involvement from scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the Brookhaven National Laboratory, the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Minnesota. LuSEE-Night will blast off as part of NASA’s Commercial…
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