Tag: The moon

China’s Chang’e 6 mission continues to make history, having collected the first samples ever retrieved from the far side of the moon and now transferring those samples between spacecraft in orbit. That transfer was necessary for the next step in the samples’ journey — returning to Earth. According to the China National Space Administration (CNSA), the successful rendezvous and docking of the Chang’e 6 ascender and its orbital module took place at 2:48 p.m. Beijing time (2:48 a.m. ET; 0648 GMT) on Thursday (June 6). The safe transfer of the…

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China’s lunar sample collection mission Chang’e 6 has made history by successfully touching down on the far side of the moon, and it even sent back a stunning video of its landing. The China National Space Administration (CNSA) probe arrived at the moon on Sunday (June 2_ at 6:23 a.m. Beijing Time, which was 6:23 p.m. on Saturday (June 1) EDT (2223 UTC). The video footage was filmed by the Chang’e-6 lander’s landing camera. It shows the spacecraft’s close approach to the lunar surface as well as its touchdown. The…

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The secrets of the supernova star explosions could be hidden in dust scattered across the moon — and a team of scientists from the China Institute of Atomic Energy (CIAE) has devised a new way of unlocking those stellar death clues. The research could help scientists obtain a clearer picture of how stars die and provide material for the next generation of stars, planets, moons, and sometimes even life — at least, when it comes to Earth.  The technique hinges on the improved detection of a rare iron isotope found…

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This week, two more nations signed the Artemis Accords. NASA held a ceremony at its headquarters in Washington, D.C. on Thursday (May 30) to host representatives from both Slovakia and Peru. During the event, both countries signed the agency’s Artemis Accords, a set of principles that aims to lay out a framework for peaceful cooperation in space and on the moon.  The addition of these two nations brings the total of signing countries to 42. The Artemis Accords were first launched and signed in October 2020 by eight nations, including…

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No matter how long humans have looked up and stared at the moon — and despite the number of  satellites we’ve sent up to observe it — our maps of its terrain still hit a resolution limit. Yet, scientists want to continually push that limit — and it appears they’ve made some headway. Related: Safety comes 1st for Artemis moon missions despite ‘space race’ with China, NASA chief says A new study has enlisted the help of algorithms to automate parts of a method used to reconstruct terrain data from…

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The full moon of May 2024 rides the Scorpion’s back across the night sky tonight. The Full Flower Moon will be in the Scorpius constellation tonight (May 23), rising in the southeast just after sunset. Because full moons occur when the sun and the moon are completely opposite one another in the sky, the moon will rise at sunset and set with the sunrise the following morning. Because of its location in the sky tonight, the Full Flower Moon makes for an excellent guide to help you learn the stars…

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Any human who spends enough time in a low-gravity environment — such as a future habitat on the moon — will experience bodily changes as their muscles atrophy, their bones lose mass and their control over their whole body itself declines. This is why astronauts who spend time beyond Earth’s atmosphere must exercise on their missions. Without physical fitness, they’ll struggle to function on even a basic level when they return to Earth’s gravity. Now, researchers from the University of Milan have devised a new form of exercise to keep…

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NASA”s Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) has earned its “neck” and “head,” aka its “mast,” meaning it now stands proudly at 8 feet (2.4 meters) tall.  The photo below,  taken in a clean room at NASA’s Johnson Space Center earlier this month, shows progress on quite the impressive robot. It is expected to take a trip to the South Pole of the moon later this year, embarking on a 100-day mission. The mission  will involve learning more about water on the moon and gleaning what other resources may be…

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Between 1969 and 1972, the Apollo missions sent a total of a dozen astronauts to the surface of the moon — and that was before the explosion of modern technology. So why does it seem like our current efforts, as embodied by NASA’s Artemis program, are so slow, halting and complex?  There isn’t one easy answer, but it comes down to money, politics and priorities. Let’s start with the money. Yes, the Apollo missions were enormously successful — and enormously expensive. At its peak, NASA was consuming around 5% of…

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