Moon | SpaceRef

Moon TOP STORY

Innovative Propulsion System Gets Ready to Help Study Moon Orbit for Artemis

Capstone Propulsion System

In 2021, NASA's Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment, or CAPSTONE, CubeSat will launch to a never-before-used cislunar orbit near the Moon.

Origin Of The Moon

The Moon

The Earth-Moon system is unusual in several respects. The Moon is roughly 1/4 the radius of the Earth - a larger satellite-to-planet size ratio than all known satellites other than Pluto's Charon.

Moon

Apollo Rock Samples Capture Key Moments In The Moon's Early History

Volcanic rock samples collected during NASA's Apollo missions bear the isotopic signature of key events in the early evolution of the Moon, a new analysis found.

Moon

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Enhanced To Continue Exploring the Moon

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft has far exceeded its planned mission duration, revealing that the Moon holds surprises:

Moon

Successful Test Paves Way for New Planetary Radar

The National Science Foundation's Green Bank Observatory (GBO) and National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), and Raytheon Intelligence & Space conducted a test in November to prove that a new radio telescope system can capture high-resolution images in near-Earth space.

Moon

The Artemis Base Camp on the Moon Will Need Light, Water, Elevation

American astronauts in 2024 will take their first steps near the Moon's South Pole: the land of extreme light, extreme darkness, and frozen water that could fuel NASA's Artemis lunar base and the agency's leap into deep space.

Moon

Orbital View Of A Waxing Gibbous Moon Above The Pacific Ocean

The waxing gibbous Moon is pictured from the International Space Station as it orbited 263 miles above the Pacific Ocean near the island state of Samoa and the U.S. territory of American Samoa.

Moon

NASA Lends A Moon Rock For An Oval Office Display

In symbolic recognition of earlier generations' ambitions and accomplishments, and support for America's current Moon to Mars exploration approach, a Moon rock now sits in the Oval Office of the White House.

Moon

Image-based Navigation Could Help Spacecraft Safely Land On The Moon

In order for future lunar exploration missions to be successful and land more precisely, engineers must equip spacecraft with technologies that allow them to "see" where they are and travel to where they need to be.

Moon

Supercomputer Simulations Could Unlock Mystery of the Moon's Formation

Astronomers have taken a step towards understanding how the Moon might have formed out of a giant collision between the early Earth and another massive object 4.5 billion years ago.

Moon

New Data Confirm 2020 SO to Be the Upper Centaur Rocket Booster From the 1960's

An object, discovered in September by astronomers searching for near-Earth asteroids, garnered interest in the planetary science community due to its size and unusual orbit.

Moon

Turning Moon Dust Into Oxygen

British engineers are fine-tuning a process that will be used to extract oxygen from lunar dust, leaving behind metal powders that could be 3D printed into construction materials for a Moon base.

Moon

Growing Interest in Moon Resources Could Cause Tension

An international team of scientists led by the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, has identified a problem with the growing interest in extractable resources on the moon: there aren't enough of them to go around.

Moon

New Mineral Discovered In A Lunar Meteorite

A team of European researchers discovered a new high-pressure mineral in the lunar meteorite Oued Awlitis 001, named donwilhelmsite [CaAl4Si2O11].

Moon

Small Water Ice Reservoirs Dot the Lunar Surface

Small shadowed cold traps scattered across the lunar polar regions could contain up to 20 percent of the frozen water on the Moon, making accessing water sources easier for lunar visitors.

Moon

Automated Technology Allows Unparalleled Space Exploration from Moon, to Asteroids, and Beyond

When landing Apollo 11 in 1969, astronauts looked out the window for distinguishing features that they recognized from maps of the Moon and were able to steer the lander to avoid a disastrous touchdown on top of a rocky area.