Moon
Teams vie for $20 million lunar prize
The race to the Moon is on. However, this race isn’t a pride-filled competition between nations. Now it is several teams consisting of engineers, entrepreneurs, and anyone with a vision, racing to build a moon roving robot – to the tune of $30 million in prizes. The Google Lunar X Prize is a next-generation competition …
All about the Earth’s moon
As this issue commemorates 45 years since the first human placed foot on the Moon it seems rather fitting to feature the Moon in this astronomy item. As we all know the Moon is our nearest astronomical body at about a quarter of a million miles or 405,000 Km away. Unlike other planets in our …
Take a closer look at the Moon
Observing the Moon The object of the month this time is the closest celestial body to us: The Moon. The Moon plays a big part in Astronomy for a number of reasons, the main one being light. Although the Moon does not generate light itself, it acts as a giant reflector for the sun. When …
Moon phases: Past, present and future
Take a look tonight at the Moon. What lunar phase do you observe? If you and your students want to learn more about the lunar phases before studying the night sky, we recommend: http://bit.ly/RShiwaay. Observing the Moon night after night and either photographing the phase or drawing it, is a good way to understand the …
Unsung heroes of the Apollo program
For years history has celebrated the crews of elite astronauts who rode fire to the Moon and the unique twelve who walked on its surface. To a lesser degree, the senior mission specialists working in Houston and in Florida were also lauded. But at its height during the Apollo program 400,000 people were involved in …
Fly me to the Moon (on the Boeing Space Tug)
Vocabulary Crew Module (CM): The part of the spacecraft where the astronauts live and work Crew Module Weight: The total weight of the CM including provisions and the crew Crew Size (Crew): The total number of astronauts needed to conduct a specific space mission Dry Weight (m1): The weight of the spacecraft fully loaded excluding …
China lands Yutu rover on the Moon
China scored a stunning, history making success with the successful touchdown of the ambitious Chang’e-3 probe with the ‘Yutu’ rover on the surface of the Moon Dec. 14, 2013, on the country’s first ever attempt to conduct a landing on an extraterrestrial body. The dramatic Chang’e-3 soft landing on the lava filled plains of the …
LADEE on mission to study Moon’s thin atmosphere
Did you know the Moon has an atmosphere? I wouldn’t be surprised if you didn’t. Until just a few years ago nobody did. It’s not much. You can’t breathe it. We think it’s mostly dust. But we don’t know exactly what’s in it or how it works. How does an atmosphere operate when the days are 28 …
Gene Cernan: A conversation with the last men on the Moon
Forty years have passed since he left mankind’s last bootprint on the Moon, but Gene Cernan is a man focused on the future. He strongly believes that inspiring dreams within children, and encouraging STEM education is the path to a future where we walk on the Moon again. Cernan: “What we have to do is …
Harrison Schmitt: A conversation with the last men on the Moon
Of the 12 men who explored the Moon, only Dr. Harrison ‘Jack’ Schmitt was a professional geologist. After years spent training those who had gone before him, he blazed a trail for the scientist-astronauts who would later follow him into space. Schmitt: “Well I think it was important to the space program because it set …