The discovery of water at the poles of the moon has inspired speculation about whether we can build there – cities, industrial neighborhoods, places where people work and live. But is there enough water, and can we use it efficiently enough? In their new article in Frontiers in Space Technologies, Dr. Martin Elvis and Dr. […]
Read MoreTag: The moon
NASA, IBM launch new AI model for studying the moon
We’ve been studying the moon for a long time. NASA has gathered mountains of data over decades of lunar missions and studies. The data collected by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) alone, for example, exceeds that of all NASA’s other planetary missions combined. Analyzing all this information takes lots of time and effort from researchers. […]
Read MoreEarth’s moon could have formed in just 5 hours after giant impact
The moon could have formed in a matter of hours following the giant impact between Earth and a Mars-size protoplanet early in the history of the solar system. The theory comes from new simulations that take into account how the internal temperature of young protoplanets affected their geologic properties and therefore the collisions they experienced. […]
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The moon might be hiding a history of ancient supernova explosions
It’s now possible to disentangle the sprinkling of supernova dust on the moon from the lunar dirt it is mixed up in, thanks to a new computer model that opens up the moon’s surface as a time capsule holding details about the history of supernova explosions near the Earth as our solar system has travelled […]
Read MoreChina’s Chang’e 7 moon probe will launch this weekend on the most ambitious lunar mission in history
China’s moon exploration program is readying an ambitious robotic mission, one composed of an orbiter, a lander, a rover, a hopper, and a wide range of international experiments including a U.S.-supported payload. In April of this year, Chang’e-7 hardware was transported to the Wenchang launch site, targeting an Aug. 24 (Beijing time) launch atop a […]
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‘This goes beyond showcasing technological soft power’: China’s new moon map signals bold space ambitions (video)
Chinese researchers have presented a new map of the moon, updating a previous edition based on new scientific findings and recalibrating the moon’s ancient geologic eras. The comprehensive map of the moon, with a scale of 1:5 million, was unveiled by the Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences (IGCAGS) on Aug. 6. The […]
Read MoreWill the new moon race turn Earth’s nearest neighbor into a dumping ground?
An 8,800-pound (4,000 kilograms) Falcon 9 rocket stage hit the moon last Wednesday (Aug. 5), stirring lunar regolith in a massive plume of dust observable all the way from Earth. The rocket joined some 3,000 manmade objects scattered on the surface of our planet’s companion. Some experts think it’s about time we start treating the […]
Read MoreIndia-US space ties deepen as NASA invites ISRO to join moon base program
NASA has formally invited India to participate in its effort to build a permanent base near the moon’s south pole, adding a new dimension to the deep-space cooperation between the two countries. The invitation was extended last week at the Indian space agency ISRO‘s headquarters in Bengaluru during the ninth meeting of the U.S.-India Civil […]
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SpaceX rocket’s moon crash highlights ‘a tangible operational risk’ of lunar settlement
The moon dust has settled after a 4.5-ton SpaceX rocket body slammed into terrain near Einstein Crater on Aug. 5. That impact site was imaged by South Korea’s moon-orbiting Danuri spacecraft, as well as by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). Reportedly, a Chinese commercial space debris monitoring satellite tracked and recorded the 5,400-mph (8,690-kph) moon […]
Read MoreSpaceX serious about building factories on the moon: ‘It’s going to happen,’ Elon Musk says
As usual, SpaceX is dreaming big. The company plans to build factories on the moon, using robots to do much of the heavy lifting, Elon Musk said on Tuesday (Aug. 4) during SpaceX‘s first-ever quarterly earnings call. “We are going to land a lot of tonnage on the moon,” he said. “We’re going to build […]
Read MoreSpaceX’s Falcon 9 wasn’t the first rocket to crash into the moon. Here’s a rundown
A spent rocket body hitting the moon made headlines this week, but the reality is that the unplanned collision by a SpaceX upper stage was just the latest in a long history of human-made objects meeting their end by impacting the lunar surface. Astronomers around the world kept their telescopes trained on the moon early […]
Read MoreA SpaceX rocket just crashed into the moon. Now, the race is on to get a look at the impact site
Early this morning, a SpaceX rocket slammed into the moon at seven times the speed of sound. Now, lunar orbiters are trying to get a look at the aftermath. This morning (Aug. 5) at about 2:35 a.m. EDT (0635 GMT), the upper stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket crashed into the moon. To dissect […]
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A 9,000-pound SpaceX rocket will crash into the moon tonight. Will you be able to see it?
A discarded SpaceX Falcon 9 upper stage is on a collision course with the moon, and skywatchers may be wondering whether they’ll be able to witness the rare event firsthand when it slams into the lunar surface early Wednesday morning (Aug. 5). The 45-foot-long (13.8-meter), 8,000-pound (4,000-kilogram) rocket stage, left over from the January 2025 […]
Read MoreA SpaceX rocket will crash into the moon this week. Why is it on a collision course?
This rocket wasn’t supposed to die so dramatically. On Wednesday (Aug. 5) at about 2:35 a.m. EDT (0635 GMT), the upper stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will slam into the moon, blasting out a crater about 89 feet (27 meters) wide. The rocket body has been loitering lazily high above Earth for more […]
Read MoreA SpaceX rocket will crash into the moon next week, and scientists aren’t sure what to expect
On Aug. 5, Earth’s moon is due for a human-made, high-speed impact from an identified flying object: a spent SpaceX Falcon 9 upper stage. The event will lead to a literal “dust up” on the lunar landscape. That Falcon 9 upper stage is a leftover from the launch that sent Firefly’s Blue Ghost-1 lander to […]
Read MoreBALLS on the moon: China set to launch Africa’s 1st lunar science mission in 2029
China’s Chang’e-8 moon lander mission scheduled for 2029 could send Africa’s first space exploration mission to the lunar south pole. Under the Africa2Moon venture, the Bounced African Low Lunar Sphere, or BALLS for short, is a technology demonstrator in which a trio of spherical probes on the lunar surface will form a radio astronomy array […]
Read MoreStaffing the moon base: How many astronauts should live in NASA’s lunar outpost?
The success of NASA’s future moon base depends in large part on mission design, which should allow astronauts to work together well in a way independent from psychological training, a new study asserts. The goal of the study was to identify “specific conditions” for mission success and to look for any “red flags” that may […]
Read MoreNASA will send a soccer ball to the moon —if the US wins the World Cup
Jared Isaacman is doing his best to spur his country on to sporting glory. The NASA chief announced on Tuesday (June 30) that the agency will send a FIFA World Cup 2026 soccer ball to the moon if the U.S. men’s national team manages to win the tournament, which is going on right now. “So, […]
Read MoreA SpaceX rocket will slam into the moon this August. Will we be able to see it?
Earth’s moon is due for a human-made impact this August courtesy of a spent SpaceX Falcon 9 upper stage. The Falcon 9 upper stage is left over from the launch that sent Firefly’s Blue Ghost-1 lander to the moon on Jan. 15, 2025 by way of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative. Also sent […]
Read More‘Let’s not fool the public’: Why moon art should be more realistic in the Artemis age
GOLDEN, Colorado — The moon is in need of good and accurate artists! As NASA’s Artemis program hits its stride, and in a few years “reboots” our moon with a human presence, there’s an urgent need to guard against artistic misrepresentations of the lunar landscape, experts say. We’ve all seen those alluring lunar renderings of […]
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How Japanese scientists sent a real-life Transformer to the moon
A Japanese-built spherical transforming rover, just 3 inches (8 centimeters) in size, successfully took a sojourn on the moon — and, in doing so, it demonstrated autonomous navigation and wireless communication with another lander that then relayed data back to Earth. The robotic rover, named SORA-Q after the Japanese words for “space” and “sphere,”, aims […]
Read MoreShould we store Mars samples on the moon to keep alien germs away from Earth?
A team of researchers is advocating to use the moon as a secure site for biocontainment of extraterrestrial samples, particularly those from Mars, but also from other potential worlds like Enceladus, a moon of Saturn. The researchers contend that our moon offers a naturally sterile and isolated environment that can act as humanity’s first line […]
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Artemis moon base will cover ‘hundreds of square miles’ with hopping drones and new lunar rovers, NASA says
NASA is definitely thinking big on the moon. The U.S. space agency plans to build a crewed lunar base over the next decade or so via its Artemis program — and we just got a sense of that project’s impressive scope. “We envision the moon base to be hundreds of square miles, with different assets […]
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NASA is updating its Artemis moon base plan. You can find out how on May 26.
Moon Base News Conference (May 26, 2026) – YouTube Watch On NASA will give an update on Tuesday afternoon (May 26) about its plans to build a moon base, and you can watch it live. The agency will host a press conference Tuesday at 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT) at its headquarters in Washington, D.C. […]
Read MoreLasers in moon craters could create a lunar GPS system
Placing ultrastable lasers inside some of the coldest, darkest lunar craters could help scientists establish a GPS-like navigation system on the moon, allowing future Artemis astronauts and spacecraft to navigate the lunar surface more easily. Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have proposed that permanently shadowed craters near the moon’s south […]
Read MoreA bizarre ‘decapitated’ asteroid likely made the moon’s largest impact crater. NASA’s Artemis astronauts may land near the proof
A violent impact that carved out the moon’s largest impact basin may have scattered deep lunar material near the lunar south pole — right where NASA plans to send Artemis astronauts. A new study suggests the South Pole–Aitken (SPA) basin, an impact crater more than 1,200 miles (2,000 kilometers) wide on the moon‘s far side, […]
Read MoreCould the moon ever be blockaded? Experts predict cislunar space could be the next Strait of Hormuz
The ongoing military conflict regarding Iran and the Strait of Hormuz may well mirror a future situation off-Earth — the use of cislunar space, the region between the moon and our planet. Think blockades, seizing of ships, impacts on the global economy, repercussions in terms of needed resources and markets, from fuel to high-tech semiconductors […]
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The moon’s oldest and darkest craters could be hiding the most water ice. That’s good news for future astronauts
The moon’s stores of water-ice, hidden in permanently shadowed craters at the lunar south pole, probably arrived on the surface of our nearest neighbor gradually rather than in one big event, according to new research. Furthermore, these ‘permanently’ shadowed craters are not as permanently shadowed as we thought, since changes in the moon‘s tilt with […]
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NASA’s Artemis 2 astronauts just flew by the moon. Lunar scientists can’t wait for what’s next
It was as though magic had showered across the world on April 1, 2026, when a quartet of daring astronauts lifted off from Earth in a little white capsule strapped to an enormously powerful rocket. Leaving behind a sendoff of roaring post-launch rumbles rivaled only by tears and cheers of joy, the sunrise-orange vessel pierced […]
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Future Artemis missions could use fiber-optic cables to monitor moonquakes
The moon may soon get a high-tech seismic sensing system — and it could be as simple as rolling out cables across the lunar surface. Two recent studies suggest that fiber-optic cables laid directly on the lunar ground could double as sensitive detectors for moonquakes, offering a lightweight, low-cost alternative to traditional seismometers. The idea […]
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A seed that flew around the moon grew into this tree in NYC
NEW YORK — Madison Square Park in midtown Manhattan is home to some 44 tree species. And on a Thursday afternoon blanketed in wildfire smoke, a small crowd gathered to see one in particular. The slender American sweet gum looked unassuming, especially compared to the enormous English elm neighboring it. But this tree had a […]
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