All articles tagged with #moon exploration
NASA's Lunar Electric Rover is being tested in Arizona's desert to simulate lunar conditions, supporting future moon missions by developing versatile, pressurized exploration vehicles for long-duration surface missions, as part of NASA's Artemis program.
GM is developing a 10-year rechargeable battery-powered Lunar Terrain Vehicle with advanced mobility features like Crab Walk to support NASA's Artemis lunar missions, aiming for sustainable and extended lunar exploration.
NASA announced its 24th astronaut candidate class, consisting of ten women and men from diverse backgrounds, including former SpaceX employees, military pilots, and scientists, marking a significant milestone with more women than men and no African-American candidates for the first time since 1985. The group will undergo two years of training as NASA prepares for lunar and Mars missions.
NASA's Artemis program aims to return humans to the moon and establish a sustainable presence, utilizing advanced technology like the Space Launch System and Lunar Gateway, with missions including Artemis 1 and Artemis 2, and a focus on lunar exploration and future Mars preparation.
Blue Origin has secured a NASA contract worth approximately $190 million to deliver the VIPER rover to the lunar south pole using its Blue Moon MK1 lander, marking a significant step in lunar exploration and resource prospecting, with the rover expected to operate for about 100 days to study water ice deposits crucial for future human missions.
NASA's acting administrator Sean Duffy publicly emphasized the agency's commitment to beating China to the moon, countering criticism and previous statements suggesting China might land astronauts on the moon first. Duffy and associate administrator Amit Kshatriya vowed to accelerate Artemis missions and reduce costs, despite budget constraints and testing setbacks, aiming to ensure NASA's leadership in lunar exploration.
Canada's Canadensys Aerospace is developing its first lunar rover, set to launch around 2029 as part of NASA's Artemis program, aiming to explore water sources and radiation on the Moon's south pole, marking a significant step in Canadian space exploration and technology.
Physicist William DeRocco proposes using Ganymede, Jupiter's largest moon, as a massive dark matter detector by searching for 'dark matter craters' caused by large dark matter particles impacting its icy surface, potentially observable by spacecraft like NASA's Europa Clipper or ESA's JUICE.
A study explores using lunar photobioreactors with algae to produce oxygen and food on the Moon, aiming to reduce reliance on Earth supplies and lower mission costs by utilizing lunar resources and innovative protective designs, despite environmental challenges.
A recent study demonstrates how AI and machine learning, particularly the deep learning model ESSA, can efficiently identify lunar pits and skylights, which are potential entrances to subsurface lava caves, aiding future robotic and human exploration of the Moon. Despite only analyzing a small portion of the lunar surface, the model successfully discovered new features, highlighting AI's potential in planetary exploration and resource identification. This approach could be extended to other planetary bodies, enhancing our understanding of their geology and potential habitability.
A study suggests lunar soil could be used to extract water and convert CO2 into oxygen and fuel, potentially reducing the costs of moon missions and aiding future space exploration, despite environmental challenges.
NASA has selected three scientific instruments for the Artemis Lunar Terrain Vehicle and future lunar missions to explore and analyze the Moon's surface and subsurface, aiming to enhance scientific understanding and support human exploration. The instruments include AIRES for mineral and volatile mapping, L-MAPS for subsurface analysis and ice detection, and UCIS-Moon for orbital surface mapping, with the goal of advancing lunar science and exploration capabilities.
A 2.35-billion-year-old lunar meteorite found in Africa provides new insights into the moon's prolonged volcanic activity, filling a nearly billion-year gap in its geological history and suggesting ongoing internal heat generation.
iSpace's lunar lander failed to communicate after a landing attempt on the Moon, marking its second failure, but the company plans future missions. Meanwhile, ESA's FLYEYE telescope has begun operations to detect potentially hazardous asteroids, and new research suggests the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies might not collide as previously thought, due to gravitational influences and uncertainties in their trajectories.
Firefly Aerospace is set to launch its Ocula moon-imaging service by 2026, utilizing high-resolution telescopes on Elytra spacecraft to provide detailed lunar surface images, aid in resource detection like helium-3, and support future lunar and planetary missions, with potential expansion to Mars.