Photo taken by the Odysseus spacecraft in lunar orbit
intuitive machine
Intuitive Machines' Odysseus lander has landed on the moon. This is the first time a private company has landed a spacecraft on the moon, a welcome success after a string of recent high-profile landing failures by other companies.
The Odysseus spacecraft launched on a Falcon 9 rocket on February 14 for the flight, called the IM-1 mission. It entered lunar orbit on February 21st and landed near the moon's south pole on February 22nd.
Live footage from air traffic controllers became tense as the scheduled landing time passed without any contact from the lander. Finally, minutes after Odysseus was scheduled to land, Tim Crane, mission director in Intuitive Machines' mission control room, said, “We're receiving a signal. It's faint, but it's definitely there.'' “I'm doing it.”
The signal indicated that the spacecraft had landed on the moon, but the state of the spacecraft is still unknown. However, the landing was successful. “We know this has been a pain, but we're on the surface,” said Stephen Altemus, CEO of Intuitive Machines. “Welcome to the moon”
Before this landing, three other companies attempted to send landers to the moon. SpaceIL's Beresheet spacecraft was launched in 2019, and ispace's Hakuto-R mission was launched in 2022, but both crash-landed and were destroyed.
Astrobotic's Peregrine lander didn't even get very far after launching in January. A fuel leak forced the operators to return to Earth to burn up in the atmosphere. The success of the IM-1 has brought Intuitive Machines into an elite club. To date, only the national space agencies of the Soviet Union, the United States, China, India, and Japan have successfully landed on the moon.
Now that we have landed safely, we can begin the second part of the IM-1 mission. Odysseus carried six NASA payloads and six commercial payloads to the Moon. Some of these already serve that purpose, such as landing aids and cameras to take pictures of the landing. Some people have succeeded simply by reaching the moon. Perhaps most notable is artist Jeff Koons' collection of his 125 small sculptures. Other instruments are also now beginning their missions, including instruments that will measure how the moon's surrounding environment affects its surface.
The IM-1 mission is part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, through which government contracts are awarded to private companies to build spaceflight capabilities through public-private partnerships. Three more moon landings are planned through CLPS in 2024, including an Intuitive Machines mission to harvest water ice from the moon's south pole.
Intuitive Machines is preparing to create history as the first private company to land on the moon following last week’s launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The Nova-C lander named Odysseus (affectionately nicknamed “Odie”) is scheduled to touch down at 5:30pm ET (10:30pm GMT) and everything is proceeding as planned. This will be the first instance of an American-led mission reaching the moon since the end of the Apollo program over 50 years ago.
The mission is part of NASA’s Artemis Commercial Lunar Payload Service (CLPS) initiative, aiming to return humans to the moon by the end of this decade, led by a private company.
Since NASA’s Apollo 11 landed in 1969, several countries including the former Soviet Union, China, India, and Japan have successfully placed equipment on the moon.
Today’s “space race” is different not only because more countries are involved but also due to the private sector having a central role on the forefront. It is now possible for an individual or company with sufficient funds to place something on the moon.
The mission includes all of NASA’s key experiments, with a total of six experiments collecting data critical to NASA’s crewed Artemis missions later this decade. This leaves room for additional unique additions.
1. Puffer jacket
Columbia Sportswear has developed a lining for the Omni-Heat Infinity Jacket, designed to keep explorers warm in harsh environments, to be used on the Odie during the mission to protect the lander’s equipment from extreme temperatures.
Image credit: Intuitive Machines
2. Photos for the gram
Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus challenged students back in 2019 to capture photos of the landing from a third-person perspective, leading to the creation of the EagleCam which is poised to capture snapshots of the lunar landing.
The EagleCam is the first third-person photo camera for a landing and also serves as the first moon landing project built by a college student, it also uses WiFi on the moon.
3. Miniature satellite
Renowned American artist Jeff Koons has created 125 stainless steel sculptures depicting the moon as seen from Earth, along with an array of scientific equipment to be placed on the moon.
4. (Almost) All Human Knowledge
The Arch Mission Foundation is sending a permanent archive of human information along with the lander, ensuring that human knowledge is safely stored for posterity.
According to Intuitive Machines, the repository includes archives like the Rosetta Project, Long Now Foundation content, Project Gutenberg content, and other cultural archive datasets, and an English version of Wikipedia.
5. A very stylish file cabinet
Lone Star Data Holdings has secured a location for the Independence data center within the IM-1 mission, allowing the safe storage and transmission of documents on the moon.
When can we see the moon landing?
Coverage of the Intuitive Machine’s moon landing can be followed live through NASA’s web services from 4pm ET (9pm GMT). Live videos and comments can be accessed through NASA TV, NASA+ streaming service, or the NASA app.
About our experts
Science writer and journalist Joel Renstrom and computer scientist and author Peter Bentley provided insights for this story.
The early crescent phase of the moon following the new moon is well located in the early spring evening sky. From February to March, the spring crescent moon looks very beautiful in the evening glow.
If you have binoculars or a small telescope, there are some things to keep in mind. Known as the clair-obscure effect, or trick of the light, this effect causes recognizable shapes to appear within a jumbled area of moonlight and shadow. Two popular examples are known as Moons X and V. These occur simultaneously at different locations along the moon’s terminator (the line that separates night and day).
We spot them in the daytime sky around 12:40 a.m. on February 17th and again at 2:20 p.m. on March 17th. The effect lasts only a few hours.
Another striking Clair Obscure effect is the Jeweled Handle. This occurs a few days after the waxing moon, when the crooked peaks of the Montes Jura (Jura Mountains) are illuminated at dawn.
These Clare Obscure effects, or tricks of light, will be visible over the next month. Go outside on a sunny day and watch them. – Image credit: Pete Lawrence
Its unique arc appears to extend into the lunar night. This can be seen with just a keen eye, but is best seen with optical aids. The jeweled handle is best observed during daylight hours on February 19 at 3:50 p.m.
If the evening of March 13 is clear, the waxing moon will appear near bright Jupiter. If the skies are clear and you can see it with just your eyes, it’s a spectacular sight.
Speaking of eyes, if you have a small telescope, look at the southern part of the moon in a few days, on March 18th. Just before 8 p.m., the oval exterior of Clavius, the large crater, is mostly dark and shrouded in shadow.
Two exceptions are the raised crater rims that are illuminated within them. These form another perspective effect known as the Eye of Clavius.
Houston-based company successfully launched a private lunar lander into space on its second attempt early Thursday morning. The spacecraft, developed by Intuitive Machines, took off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 1:05 a.m. ET atop SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. The original launch was scheduled for Wednesday but was canceled due to a problem with the rocket’s methane fuel. Intuitive Machines aims to land the first commercially built spacecraft on the moon, which would be the first U.S. moon landing in over 50 years. The lander, named Odysseus, will spend a week in space before attempting to settle on the moon’s surface on February 22nd. This mission comes after another company, Astrobotic Technology, attempted but failed to send a lander to the moon’s surface due to a severe fuel leak shortly after liftoff. Both Intuitive Machines and Astrobotic Technology are part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Lander Services Program, designed to accelerate the development of lunar landers by private companies to deliver cargo to the lunar surface and transport scientific equipment. On its next flight, Odysseus will carry a combination of commercial cargo and NASA scientific equipment and is expected to land near the moon’s south pole. NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services Program is part of NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to return astronauts to the Moon in the next few years. The timeline for upcoming Artemis missions has been delayed, and NASA eventually hopes to begin regular missions to the moon and build a base camp there.
Odysseus spacecraft scheduled to launch to the moon on February 14th
space x
US company Intuitive Machines is soon to become the first private company to land a spacecraft on the moon. Three previous efforts by other companies have failed, highlighting the perilous path ahead for Intuitive Machines' Nova-C lander.
The spacecraft, nicknamed Odysseus, is scheduled to lift off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on February 14. It will fly aboard a Falcon 9 rocket manufactured by SpaceX. If the mission, called IM-1, goes well, Odysseus should land near the moon's south pole on February 22.
The goal of the IM-1 mission, in addition to proving that private companies can land on the moon, is to deliver six NASA payloads and five commercial payloads to the lunar surface. NASA's equipment includes tools to study how the landing itself blows away plumes of lunar dust, several instruments to help the aircraft land safely, and to measure radio waves and make sure they are on the moon's surface. Contains equipment to measure how it affects Commercial payloads include a camera that will be dumped from the lander before landing to take photos of the landing, and 125 small sculptures by artist Jeff Koons, designed to establish an archive of human knowledge on the lunar surface. Includes tip.
IM-1 is part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, a series of government and private sector contracts designed to accelerate exploration and develop the lunar economy. This is his second mission in CLPS. The first mission, Astrobotic's Peregrine lander, suffered a fuel leak shortly after liftoff in January and failed to reach the moon.
There have been two attempts by private companies to land on the moon, SpaceIL's Beresheet spacecraft and iSpace's Hakuto-R, but both crash-landed and were destroyed. If Odysseus succeeds where other landers have failed, Intuitive Machines' next step will be to send another Nova-C lander to the moon's south pole, equipped with a drill to harvest subsurface ice. That mission is planned for March 2024.
A new moon may not be all that remarkable (literally) astronomically speaking, but it does mark the beginning of a new lunar cycle. And this month, the new moon in February also opens the Chinese New Year.
In China, Lunar New Year is a time to let go of the negative energy from the previous year and welcome good fortune and prosperity in the new year. It’s a time for family celebrations and to exorcise evil spirits.
For those who believe in astrology (spoiler: it doesn’t make much scientific sense), a new moon generally represents a fresh start. It’s a time to set intentions, start projects, and focus on personal growth. Astrologers believe that the energy of the new moon will help you plan for the future and sow seeds.
It is often associated with opportunities for self-reflection, goal setting, and personal renewal in various aspects of life. Various astrological signs are believed to influence how this energy manifests in individuals.
Of course, astrology is subjective to some extent, so it’s best to take it with a grain of salt.
But the new moon is exciting for another reason. It’s a more “visible” reason. Solar eclipse. A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes in front of the sun. Similarly, a new moon occurs when it is on the same side of the Earth as the sun, so a solar eclipse is: only It occurs at the new moon.
When is the next new moon?
The next new moon will be on February 9, 2024.
Like full moons, new moons are also named according to the season. These usually coincide with full moons that accompany the same lunar cycle.
The beginning of each lunar cycle is marked by a new moon. A new moon occurs every 29.53 days (29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes, and 3 seconds to be exact).
Here are all the new moons in 2024 as seen from London:
January 11th 11:57am: new wolf moon
February 9th, 10:59pm: new snow moon
March 10th 9am: new worm moon
April 8th, 6:21pm: New pink moon*
May 8th 3:22am: new flower moon
June 6th, 12:38pm: new strawberry moon
July 5th, 10:57pm: new back moon
August 4th 11:13am: new sturgeon moon
September 3rd, 1:56am: New Corn/Harvest Moon
October 2nd, 6:49pm: new hunter’s moon
November 1st, 12:47pm: new beaver moon
December 1st 6:21am: new cold moon
December 30th, 10:27pm: black Moon
*Includes solar eclipse
When is Chinese New Year?
Lunar New Year (also known as Lunar New Year or Spring Festival) is the second new moon after the winter solstice. The date of the Lunar New Year varies between January 21st and February 20th according to the Gregorian calendar.
This year, in 2024, Chinese New Year begins on February 10, 2024.
In China (and other countries in East Asia), this is one of the most important times of the year and festivals are held. May last up to 16 days. The first seven days of his life are designated as official holidays, and the celebration culminates in a lantern festival. full Mon – February 24, 2024.
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As the lunar cycle progresses, it becomes increasingly visible as more sunlight is reflected and moved away from the Sun. If you really want to see the new moon, the first visible phase of the moon is the very thin, sliver-like waxing crescent that occurs just after the new moon. It appears in the western sky after sunset.
The new moon can be seen soon
During a solar eclipse, if you have proper eye protection, you can see the shape of the moon passing in front of the sun, but you can’t actually see it. . You can see every detail.
There is also a phenomenon called “Earth Shine”. This is where the moon is at its thinnest crescent stage, where the unlit parts of the moon become visible. This occurs when sunlight reflects off the Earth and gently illuminates the night side of the moon. This in turn is reflected back to us. This creates the effect of a ghostly glow in the unlit areas, giving it the illusion of a full moon even though it’s not in its full moon phase.
Earthshine typically occurs during the spring for a few days on either side of a new moon.So it’s not very It’s a new moon, but if you really want to see it, you can see it as close as possible.
new moon and solar eclipse
The relationship between solar eclipses and new moons is intertwined. Without a new moon, there will be no solar eclipse.
A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the Earth and the sun. Block out all (total solar eclipse) or some (partial solar eclipse) of the sun’s light. With this adjustment, only This phenomenon occurs during the new moon phase, when the moon is directly between the Earth and the sun.
The next solar eclipse will occur on April 8, 2024, and the total solar eclipse will cross Mexico, the United States, and Canada. A partial solar eclipse will be visible in the westernmost parts of the UK and Ireland.
However, not all new moons cause solar eclipses. This is because the moon’s orbit is slightly different from the Earth’s orbit around the sun. There is a difference of about 5 degrees. This small difference is usually enough for the new moon to pass above or below the Sun without blocking it. In other words, no solar eclipse will occur.
What is a black moon?
The term “black moon” is used to describe the new moon, which is the equivalent of a blue moon. There are several different definitions of a black moon, but it usually refers to two new moons in one calendar month. This simply depends on the number of days in the month and how the calendar is determined.
Some people call a calendar month without a new moon a black moon. This can occur in his February, when there is no new moon about once every 19 years, due to the short length of the moon compared to the lunar cycle.
The next black moon (using the definition of two new moons in a month) will be on December 30, 2024 at 10:27 PM (GMT).
On February 3, 2024, NASA's Juno spacecraft made its second close approach to Io, the fifth and third largest of Jupiter's moons. Like the previous flyby on December 30, 2023, this second pass was approximately 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) away. During the twins' flyby, the spacecraft's JunoCam instrument returned stunning high-resolution images and raw data. The flyby is designed to provide new insights into how Io's volcanic engines work and whether a global magma ocean exists beneath the volcanic moon's rocky, mountainous surface. has been done.
The JunoCam instrument aboard NASA's Juno spacecraft imaged Io, the most geologically active object in the solar system, on February 3, 2024, from a distance of approximately 7,904 km (4,911 miles) . Image credit: NASA/SwRI/MSSS.
Io is the innermost of Jupiter's four Galilean moons and the fourth largest moon in the solar system.
Its diameter is about 3,630 km (2,556 miles), making it only slightly larger than our moon.
It is the only place in the solar system other than Earth that is known to have volcanoes spewing hot lava like those on Earth.
Io has over 400 active volcanoes, which are caused by tidal heating. This is the result of a gravitational tug of war between Jupiter's gravity and the small but precisely timed gravitational pulls from Europa and Ganymede.
The moon's yellow, white, orange, and red colors are produced by sulfur dioxide, frost on its surface, elemental sulfur, and various sulfur allotropes.
The volcano was first discovered on the island of Io in 1979, and since then studies using NASA's Galileo spacecraft and ground-based telescopes have shown that eruptions and lava fountains occur constantly, forming rivers and lakes of lava. Masu.
Only 13 large eruptions were observed between 1978 and 2006, in part because fewer astronomers were scanning the moon on a regular basis.
The JunoCam instrument aboard NASA's Juno spacecraft imaged Io on December 30, 2023, from a distance of approximately 5,857 km (3,639 miles). Image credit: NASA/SwRI/MSSS.
NASA's Juno spacecraft has been monitoring Io's volcanic activity from distances ranging from about 11,000 km (6,830 miles) to more than 100,000 km (62,100 miles), providing the first view of the moon's north and south poles .
On December 30, 2023, Juno came within approximately 1,500 km of Io's surface. The orbiter made her second close flyby of the Moon on February 3, 2024.
The second flyby mainly flew over Io's southern hemisphere, but previous flybys flew over Io's northern hemisphere.
Juno captured two plumes rising above Io's horizon on February 3, 2024. These plumes were emitted from two vents from one giant volcano, or from two volcanoes located close to each other. The JunoCam instrument photographed the plume from a distance of approximately 3,800 km (2,400 miles). Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / MSSS / Andrea Luck.
“We investigate the source of Io's massive volcanic activity, whether there is a magma ocean beneath its crust, and the importance of tidal forces from Jupiter that are relentlessly squeezing this beleaguered moon. doing.”
“There are active plumes, high mountain peaks with distinct shadows, and evidence of lava lakes, some of which look like islands.”
Starting in April 2024, Juno will conduct a series of occultation experiments that will use Juno's gravity science experiments to investigate the composition of Jupiter's upper atmosphere. This provides important information about the planet's shape and internal structure.
NASA/JPL-California Institute of Technology/Space Science I
Saturn's moon Mimas appears to have a vast global ocean beneath its icy shell, according to detailed measurements of its orbit. If other icy worlds have similar oceans, the number of planets that can support life could increase.
Mimas is the smallest of Saturn's seven major moons. For a long time, it was thought that most of it was composed of solid ice and rock, but in 2014 astronomers observed that the orbit around Saturn was unexpectedly wobbling, suggesting that this could only be explained by either a rugby ball-shaped nucleus or a liquid ocean.
Many astronomers rejected the ocean explanation, as the friction required to melt the ice would have caused visible marks on Mimas's surface. However, recent simulations suggest that this ocean may exist even without such traces.
Looking for more clues? Valerie Rainey Researchers from France's Paris Observatory analyzed observations of Mimas' orbit by NASA's Cassini spacecraft. They found that the orbit around Saturn has shifted by about 10 kilometers over 13 years.
According to the team's calculations, this orbital drift could only have been caused by an ice shell sliding over the ocean, or by wobbles from the physically impossible pancake-shaped core.
The moon's elliptical orbit and lack of surface markings also suggest that the ocean is about 30 kilometers deep and formed less than 25 million years ago. “It was very recent,” Rainey says. “We are more or less witnessing the birth of this global ocean.”
This recent activity could help explain not only the lack of traces on the surface, but also why the moon is so different from its neighbors. Enceladus has a similar shape and orbit to Mimas, and has a global ocean, but it also has a very active surface and giant spout. Rainey said the difference is simply a difference in time, and in a few million years Mimas' ice could melt and it could look similar to Enceladus.
“It would be surprising if that were true,” he says. William McKinnon at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. But he says there are still things that aren't perfectly aligned, such as the vast 80-mile-wide Herschel crater, which was formed by a giant impact. If Mimas' ice shell was truly only tens of kilometers deep, McKinnon said, we would have seen evidence of a distorted crater floor in the impact and aftermath. It's also unlikely, he says, that you'll be able to get a front-row seat at such a short and unique time in Mimas' long history. “I remain a Mimas ocean skeptic,” McKinnon says.
However, if Mimas has a hidden ocean, it suggests that other icy planets and moons in the solar system and elsewhere may have the same, expanding the possibility of life. “It's expanding our vision of what is and isn't a habitable world,” Rainey says. “Mimas teaches us that even a corpse that seems to have no life in it may someday come to life.”
A full moon low on the horizon is one of the most fascinating sights in the night sky. It is also one of the easiest astronomical phenomena to observe. You don't need any special equipment to see the full moon, and you don't need a star map to find it.
It's helpful to learn a little about the different craters on the moon. By observing the moon regularly, you can see how its characteristics change as the moon waxes and wanes.
Whether you're an experienced astronomer, a budding astrophotographer or someone with an interest in astrology, it's useful to know when the next full moon will be visible in the UK. For those who want to try their hand at moon photography, expert Pete Lawrence has put together a guide on how to take great photos of the moon. This guide is full of helpful (and practical!) tips and hints.
Discover more amazing views of the night sky with our beginner's guide to astronomy, and record natural fireworks on your calendar. All 2024 meteor showers are listed in our definitive guide.
When is the next full moon?
Next full moon is January 25, 2024, also known as the Wolf Moon. Other names for January's full moon include Moon After Yule, Ice Moon, and Old Moon.
A full moon is part of a lunar cycle that takes 29.53 days (29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes, and 3 seconds) to complete. In other words, a full moon occurs every 29.53 days. Since this is less than one calendar month, you may see two full moons in one month, and that “extra” full moon is known as a “blue moon.”
During the Full Moon phase of the lunar cycle, the Moon, Earth, and Sun are aligned, with the Moon 180 degrees opposite the Sun. That's why during a full moon, the moon rises and the sun sets (and vice versa).
Full moon day in 2024
January 25th, 5:54pm: wolf moon
February 24th, 12:30pm: snow moon
March 25th, 7am: worm moon
April 23rd, 11:49pm: pink moon
May 23rd, 1:53pm: flower moon
June 22nd 1:08am: strawberry moon
July 21st 10:17am: back moon
August 19th, 6:26pm: sturgeon moon
September 18th, 2:34am: corn moon
October 17th 11:25am: hunter's moon
November 15th, 9:28pm: beaver moon
December 15th 9:02am: cold moon
When will the 2024 supermoon occur?
Supermoon is an unofficial name that has become increasingly popular in recent years. This refers to a full moon that appears larger and brighter than other full moons that year.
Because the Moon orbits the Earth in an elliptical shape, its distance from us changes throughout the year. When the moon is closest to us, this is called lunar perigee. When it is farthest from us, it is known as the moon's apogee.
When perigee occurs near a full moon, the moon appears larger and brighter, creating a supermoon. Typically, this is when the Moon is about 360,000 km or less from us, but this is not always the case.
2024 supermoon dates
sturgeon supermoon
August 19th: 361,969 kilometers (224,917 miles)
corn supermoon
September 18th: 357,485 kilometers (222,131 miles)
hunter's supermoon
October 17th: 357,363 kilometers (222,055 miles)
beaver supermoon
November 15th: 361,866 kilometers (224,853 miles)
What is the lunar cycle?
The moon appears to change shape throughout the lunar cycle.
new moon
waxing crescent moon
1st quarter
The waxing Gibbs moon
full moon
The fading gibbous moon
3rd quarter
waning crescent moon
Another new moon.
We can see the moon because it reflects light from the sun. As it orbits the Earth, the amount of light reflected back to us changes. When the moon passes between the sun and the earth, light can no longer be reflected back to us and a new moon occurs.
A full moon occurs when the Earth is between the sun and the moon, when the moon's surface is completely illuminated by the sun. During those hours, only part of the moon can reflect light back to Earth.
If the moon orbits the Earth in the same plane that the Earth orbits the sun, the moon will block light from the sun every time a new moon occurs.
However, this does not happen because the Moon orbits at an angle of about 5 degrees compared to the Earth's orbit of the Sun. When the Moon passes through the Earth's orbit and her three celestial bodies, the Earth, Moon, and Sun, line up.
This is called Shijiji. A solar eclipse occurs when a lunation occurs during a new moon, and a lunar eclipse occurs when a lunation occurs during a full moon.
How can I photograph the moon at night?
To photograph the moon with your phone, you may need to play around with your camera settings. No flash, lower ISO and set focus to 100.
If you don't know how to make these changes, use the Night Photography app ( night cap– Available at app store£2.99) gives you more control over your camera settings than the regular camera app.
If you're using a digital camera, start with an aperture between f/11 and f/16 and a shutter speed between 1/60 and 1/125 seconds. A tripod can help reduce shaking in low-light situations when you need to hold the camera still and keep the shutter open a little longer.
To get the best photos of the moon, you need to be creative with your shots so that you can fit the moon in the frame depending on the surrounding scenery. There is a lot of software available to help you plan where you will see the moon or anything else in the night sky ( moon locator App – available at android device, free).
To find more software worthy of your home screen, check out our guide to the best astronomy apps.
Moon photography is a great way to get started with astrophotography. The moon's appearance changes throughout the month. Not only the shape changes, but also the craters and the moon. Similarly, shadows create tricks of light that make the moon a brilliant subject.
You don't need much in terms of equipment. If you have a smartphone and a tripod, you can take good photos.
Related: Read Pete Lawrence's expert guide on how to photograph the moon. It features beginner, intermediate, and advanced projects that you can try at home.
Does the moon rotate?
Yes, the moon rotates. But it is tidally locked and rotates in sync with Earth's orbit, so for every Earth orbit he makes one revolution.
This means that the same side is always facing us as we move around the Earth. This is why we have the term “dark side of the moon,” which refers to the side we never see. In fact, that side of the moon receives as much sunlight as the side we see, so the correct term is “far side of the moon.”
What is a Blood Moon? How can I see it?
“During a total lunar eclipse, the moon turns red because Earth's atmosphere scatters blue light and only lets red light through. This is called a blood moon,” says Abigail Beale.
The next total lunar eclipse visible from the UK will be on 14 March 2025 (UK, Europe, Africa, the Americas, East Asia, Australia).
We have some time before we wait for the next Blood Moon. Below are the dates of the next total lunar eclipse that will result in a blood moon.
March 14, 2025:UK, Europe, Africa, America, East Asia, Australia
September 7, 2025:UK, Europe, Asia, Australia
March 3, 2026: America, Asia, Australia
December 31, 2028:UK, Europe, Asia, Australia, Western US, Canada
Japan's Smart Lander for Lunar Exploration (SLIM) has landed on the moon. Although the spacecraft is not operating perfectly, the successful landing follows a series of recent failed moon landings by governments and private spaceflight companies, and remains encouraging for international efforts to explore the moon. . With this landing, Japan will become the fifth country to land on the moon, following the United States, Soviet Union, China, and India.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched SLIM in September 2023, and the spacecraft took a long orbit to the moon, circling the Earth several times to conserve fuel. It has been orbiting the moon since December, taking images of the surface and preparing for landing.
The January 19 touchdown marked the first use of a technology engineers dubbed “smart eye,” which allows SLIM to aim its landing spot with extreme precision. SLIM determined its position by comparing images from its onboard camera with data from other spacecraft orbiting the moon, then autonomously navigated to a landing site on the slopes of Sioli Crater. JAXA officials are continuing to analyze how well the targeting protocol worked.
Initial signals from SLIM suggest that the solar panels do not appear to be operational, so the spacecraft is operating on battery power for now. If spacecraft operators are unable to figure out what's wrong with the solar cells and get them working, SLIM's scientific capabilities could be hampered and its lifespan significantly shortened. According to JAXA officials, battery life is expected to be only a few hours. It's possible the spacecraft will regain solar power, but for now JAXA's priority is to return as much data as possible to Earth before its batteries run out.
As SLIM descended to the lunar surface, two small rovers, each carrying a small payload of scientific instruments, also descended. One of them is designed to bounce rather than roll on wheels, and the other is a tennis ball. He was designed by toy manufacturers to roll on the moon, with a sphere slightly smaller than a ball. The spacecraft appears to be functioning normally.
Spacecraft landing sites are potentially important. Previous observations suggest that material may have come from inside the moon during the impact that formed the crater. SLIM's scientific instruments can study these minerals to learn about the formation and evolution of the Moon. A successful landing and the scientific data collected will provide useful data for the many spacecraft scheduled to travel to the moon from around the world in the coming years.
Artist's thoughts on SLIM after landing on the moon
JAXA
Japan is preparing for its first moon landing. The Smart Lunar Survey Lander (SLIM) is scheduled to land on the lunar surface on January 19th. If all goes well, Japan will become the fifth country to land a probe on the moon, following the United States, Soviet Union, China and India.
SLIM launched in September 2023 and took a long, narrow path to the moon, making a steep descent to conserve fuel. It entered lunar orbit in December and has since taken images of the lunar surface and slowly lowered its altitude in preparation for landing.
This spacecraft's landing technique is so precise that it has been nicknamed the “Moon Sniper.” It is designed to match images from its onboard camera with data from other lunar rovers to determine its location and autonomously navigate to a precise landing site. “[It] “We can expect 20 minutes of breathless, numbing fear,” said Kenji Kushiki, one of the mission managers at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). in a statement.
If successful, future missions will be equipped to land exactly where they want to land, rather than within a few dozen square kilometers of their desired spot, as is the case today. “Lunar orbiting satellites… have provided a large amount of high-resolution observation data of the lunar surface,” Kushiki said. “Thus, interest in lunar science and resource exploration has shifted from 'somewhere on the moon's surface' to 'that rock next to this particular crater.'”
When the spacecraft lands, it releases a pair of probes with new and strange ways to travel across the moon's surface. Lunar Expedition Vehicle-1 (LEV-1) is designed to fly around rather than roam on wheels like traditional rovers. LEV-2 is a sphere slightly smaller than a tennis ball that was designed by toy manufacturers to roll on the ground. take a picture. The lander itself also carries scientific instruments to survey the area around the crater that will be the target of the landing.
The landing is part of a large-scale international effort to explore the moon. India's Chandrayaan-3 lander reached the moon's surface in August 2023, but there were a series of failures. A lander sent by Japan's iSpace company crashed last April, Russia's Luna 25 had a similar accident in August, and more recently the US crashed. Astrobotic's Peregrine lander suffered a fuel leak and failed to reach the moon. If this mission is successful, it could be the moment when lunar exploration gets back on track.
NASA/JPL-California Institute of Technology/Stephane Le Mouelik, Virginia Pasek
Saturn’s moon Titan is home to strange “magical islands” that appear and disappear over hours to weeks. These so-called islands are actually porous, sponge-like masses of snow that can slowly fill with liquid before sinking.
Titan’s thick atmosphere is filled with complex organic molecules that can clump together and fall to the moon’s surface like snow. Sintin Yu Researchers at the University of Texas at San Antonio thought that snow could be the cause of the magical islands. To test their idea, they took advantage of what we know about these atmospheric compounds and how they are expected to interact with Titan’s oceans.
Titan’s liquid is methane, not water, so any solids on the surface of these oceans would normally be expected to sink quickly. Water molecules tend to stick together and displace other substances, but methane easily sticks to other molecules, so the surface tension of a pool of liquid methane is very low.
“Water molecules just love themselves by excluding certain molecules,” he says. michael marasca from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California was not involved in the study. “But if you put methane on the same surface, it’ll start crawling all over the place.” That means Titan’s methane oceans and lakes should immediately swallow up any solids that are expected to float. It means that.
But that clearly won’t happen on the magical island, which appeared as a temporary bright spot in observations from the Cassini spacecraft. “For us to see magical islands, they cannot float briefly and then immediately sink,” Yu said in the paper. statement. “You have to stay afloat for a while, but not forever.” Researchers have found a solution to this problem. When large amounts of snow accumulate on the coast, they can form sponge-like, porous ice. Once these porous “icebergs” separated from the land, they could float in Titan’s oceans for long enough to rival Cassini’s observations. The researchers calculated that this would work if the sponge-like structure contained enough free space (at least about 25 to 50 percent, depending on the exact composition of the ice).
However, this does not mean that these mysterious islands are definitely porous icebergs. “We’re narrowing down different scenarios for the magical island, but we don’t know the answer yet,” Malasca says. Other possible explanations include nitrogen gas bubbles, waves caused by wind or solid ocean deposits. However, this provides evidence that Titan’s temporary islands may actually be suspended matter from this strange world’s atmosphere.
NASA/JPL-California Institute of Technology/Stephane Le Mouelik, Virginia Pasek
Saturn’s moon Titan is home to strange “magical islands” that appear and disappear over hours to weeks. These so-called islands are actually porous, sponge-like masses of snow that can slowly fill with liquid before sinking.
Titan’s thick atmosphere is filled with complex organic molecules that can clump together and fall to the moon’s surface like snow. Sintin Yu Researchers at the University of Texas at San Antonio thought that snow could be the cause of the magical islands. To test their idea, they took advantage of what we know about these atmospheric compounds and how they are expected to interact with Titan’s oceans.
Titan’s liquid is methane, not water, so any solids on the surface of these oceans would normally be expected to sink quickly. Water molecules tend to stick together and displace other substances, but methane easily sticks to other molecules, so the surface tension of a pool of liquid methane is very low.
“Water molecules just love themselves by excluding certain molecules,” he says. michael marasca from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California was not involved in the study. “But if you put methane on the same surface, it will start crawling all over the place.” That means Titan’s methane oceans and lakes should immediately swallow up any solids that are expected to float. It means that.
But that clearly won’t happen on the magical island, which appeared as a temporary bright spot in observations from the Cassini spacecraft. “For us to see magical islands, they cannot float briefly and then immediately sink,” Yu said in the paper. statement. “You have to stay afloat for a while, but not forever.”
Researchers have found a solution to this problem. When large amounts of snow accumulate on the coast, they can form sponge-like, porous ice. Once these porous “icebergs” separated from the land, they could float in Titan’s oceans for long enough to rival Cassini’s observations. The researchers calculated that this would work if the sponge-like structure contained enough free space (at least about 25 to 50 percent, depending on the exact composition of the ice).
However, this does not mean that these mysterious islands are definitely porous icebergs. “We’re narrowing down different scenarios for the magical island, but we don’t know the answer yet,” Malasca says. Other possible explanations include nitrogen gas bubbles, waves caused by wind or solid ocean deposits. However, this provides evidence that Titan’s temporary islands may actually be suspended matter from this strange world’s atmosphere.
NASA’s efforts to return astronauts to the moon have been delayed once again.
The agency announced Tuesday that the next Artemis mission, which will fly four astronauts around the moon in a next-generation capsule, will launch in September 2025 instead of later this year.
A subsequent mission to actually land astronauts near the moon’s south pole is scheduled to be postponed to September 2026.
NASA said the two flights will be postponed to allow enough time to test new technology on the Orion spacecraft for the manned moon exploration mission.
“We are returning to the Moon like never before, and astronaut safety is a top priority for NASA as we prepare for future Artemis missions,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. stated in a statement.
The extra time will also give the team an opportunity to complete their investigation and troubleshooting of issues that occurred during the first unmanned Artemis test flight in late 2022, NASA said. Those outstanding investigations include scrutiny of battery issues and issues with components related to the Orion capsule’s ventilation and temperature control systems, officials said.
“Artemis is a long-term exploration campaign that will conduct science on the Moon with astronauts and prepare for future human missions to Mars,” Amit Kshatriya, deputy assistant administrator for Exploration Systems Development at NASA Headquarters, said in a statement. Ta. “That means we need to get it right as we develop and fly the underlying systems so we can safely execute these missions.”
The setback comes after years of stagnation and budget overruns in the Artemis program. NASA spent more than $42 billion over more than a decade developing the new Space Launch System Mega rocket and Orion spacecraft to bring astronauts back to the moon.
Last year, NASA’s Inspector General released a report outlining challenges surrounding the Artemis program’s enormous price tag and ambitious schedule. The report estimates that each Artemis launch will cost $4.2 billion, making it difficult to continue the lunar mission alongside NASA’s other exploration goals.
The Artemis project was named after the Greek goddess who was Apollo’s twin sister. As part of this effort, NASA envisions launching regular missions to set up base camps on the moon before eventually heading to Mars.
The commercial space industry is expected to play an important role in the Artemis program. Companies such as Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin are developing a variety of components and vehicles to support NASA’s efforts.
The agency is also considering awarding contracts to private companies to transport scientific experiments and equipment to the moon’s surface. One such company, Astrobotic Technology, launched a commercial lander to the moon on Monday, but shortly after launch the rover suffered a failure that would prevent it from reaching the moon’s surface, the company said. announced.
Renewed interest in the moon extends beyond NASA and the United States. India’s space agency landed a robotic spacecraft on the moon last year, and China, which already installed a lander and probe on the far side of the moon in 2019, also plans to ramp up its lunar exploration program in the coming years.
NASA's Space Launch System and Artemis I Orion spacecraft at Kennedy Space Center, Florida
NASA
It looks like it will take a little longer than expected to send astronauts back to the moon. NASA has postponed the Artemis II flight, originally scheduled to orbit four astronauts around the moon in late 2024, until September 2025. The Artemis III mission, which will land astronauts on the moon for the first time since 1972, has also been postponed from its original plan. From 2025 to 2026 at the earliest.
NASA officials said in a Jan. 9 press conference that the decision was made to ensure the safety of the crew and allow time to fully test all components of the spacecraft.
“We want to emphasize that safety is our top priority…and as we prepare to send our friends and colleagues on this mission, we are committed to launching as safely as possible. “We are here,” the NASA deputy administrator said. gym free During the briefing session. “We'll leave when you're ready.”
One cause for concern was that during the test, the heat shield of the Orion spacecraft (the Artemis program's crew capsule) flared up a bit more than expected, dropping some charred debris. “This heat shield is an ablative material and is supposed to char, but it's not what we expected and some of that char will be released from the vehicle,” NASA officials said. Amit Kshatriya said during a briefing.
NASA is investigating why this happened, as well as analyzing several problems that occurred during the test, including a defect in a valve that could affect the spacecraft's life support systems. I am currently in the process of doing so. “We know how to fix it,” Kshatriya said. “All we need to do is take the time to work to the standards of workmanship we expect from a human-rated vehicle.”
Finally, there were some potential problems with the giant new Space Launch System (SLS) rocket's abort system. These are the systems that separate Orion and fly it to safety in the event of a problem with the rocket itself, so these electrical problems can be characterized and fixed before humans are on board. Especially important.
Peregrine photo showing disturbance of insulation in the foreground
astrobotic
Things look grim for Astrobotic's Peregrine spacecraft. The Vulcan rocket launched toward the moon on January 8, but just seven hours after liftoff, an “anomaly” began to occur that could prevent a safe landing on the moon's surface.
The first hint of trouble was that the spacecraft was unable to orient itself so that its solar panels faced the sun. The technical team on the ground was able to command the aircraft to steer in the right direction so the battery could be recharged. These batteries power Peregrine's communications and scientific equipment, and so far appear to be working properly.
But the problem doesn't end there. The thrusters meant to carry Peregrine to the moon and land safely are powered by rocket fuel, and appear to be leaking fuel.in a short series statement
Astrobotic said the problem was “causing significant loss of propellant.”[this] If the propulsion anomaly proves true, it would threaten the spacecraft's ability to make a soft landing on the moon. The first images sent back from the spacecraft show rippling insulation in the foreground, suggesting that whatever caused the fuel leak may have also destroyed the spacecraft's insulation.
If Peregrine can't land on the moon, even if its batteries are fully charged, it's unclear which of its science goals it will accomplish. “The team is working to stabilize this [propellant] “While there was a loss, given the circumstances, we prioritized making the most of the science and data we could collect,” the statement said. “We are currently evaluating what alternative mission profiles are feasible at this time.” Astrobotic did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Assuming Peregrine is unable to land, this would be the third consecutive failed attempt by a private company to land on the moon. In 2019, the Beresheet lander crashed on the moon, and in 2019, the Hakuto-R lander also crashed on the moon. 2023. No private company has yet successfully made a soft landing on the moon.
Astrobotic said the cause of the failure was likely a propulsion failure, adding that a further update would be issued once more data is acquired and analyzed.
Peregrine’s mission represents a new chapter in the commercial space industry, launching private companies into the space race and delivering to NASA and other customers.
The Pittsburgh-based company First private company to succeed in landing This is something only four countries have achieved on the moon. A Houston-based company also has a lander ready to fly and is expected to take a more direct route to the moon.
NASA provided both companies with significant funding to build and fly their own lunar landers. The space agency hopes the privately owned lander will scout the site before astronauts arrive, while also providing technical and scientific experiments for NASA and benefiting other customers. Astrobotic’s Peregrine lander contract: $108 million.
During its first flight, the Peregrine lander carried five NASA instruments. Following the technical anomaly, NASA said it would learn from the situation.
“Each success and setback is an opportunity for us to learn and grow,” Joel Kearns, deputy assistant administrator for exploration at NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, said in a statement Monday. “We will use these lessons to advance our efforts to advance science, exploration, and commercial development of the Moon.”
The last time the United States launched a moon landing mission was in December 1972. Apollo 17’s Gene Cernan was the last human to set foot on the moon as mission commander, and Harrison Schmidt was the 12th astronaut to walk on the moon. , concluded an era that continued to be the pinnacle of NASA.
The space agency’s new Artemis mission, named after Apollo’s twin sister in Greek mythology, aims to return astronauts to the moon’s surface within the next few years. first, Flight around the moon by four astronautsProbably by the end of the year.
Highlighting Monday’s moonshot was the long-delayed initial test flight of the Vulcan rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The 202-foot (61-meter) rocket is essentially an upgraded version of ULA’s highly successful flagship Atlas V, which will be phased out along with the company’s Delta IV. Jeff Bezos’ rocket company Blue Origin provided his two main engines for the Vulcan.
The then-Soviet Union and the United States suspended touchdowns after a string of successful moon landings in the 1960s and 1970s. China joined the elite club in 2013, India in 2023.But I also saw it last year Landing craft from Russia and Japanese private companies crash into the moon.In 2019, an Israeli nonprofit organization's lander crashed.
Next month, SpaceX will provide lifts for the lander from Intuitive Machines.
In addition to flight experiments for NASA, Astrobotic has launched its own cargo transportation business, shipping its 6-foot-tall (1.9-meter-tall) Hayabusa lander with rock chips from Everest and toy-sized objects it catapults from Mexico. I packed everything up to my car. It will reach and cruise the moon’s surface, collecting the ashes and DNA of deceased space enthusiasts, including “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry and science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke.
The Navajo Nation recently asked for the launch to be postponed because of the human remains. He said it would be a “grave desecration” of the celestial bodies worshiped by Native Americans. Thornton said the December challenge was too late, but promised to work to find a “good path forward” with the Navajo Nation for future missions.
Celestis, one of the spaceflight memorial companies that purchased space for the lander, said in a statement that no single culture or religion owns the moon and should not be able to veto the mission. There will be more debris in the rocket’s upper stage, and once released from the lander, it will orbit the sun indefinitely all the way to Mars.
Freight rates for Hayabusa range from a few hundred dollars to $1.2 million per kilogram (2.2 pounds), not enough for Astrobotic to break even. But Astrobotic CEO John Thornton says that’s not the point for this first flight.
“A lot of people’s dreams and hopes rest on this,” he said.
Christina Koch has a job that kids dream about. Starting in 2019, on her first mission to the International Space Station (ISS), NASA astronaut She spent 328 days in space, the longest period ever spent by a woman in space. During that mission, she 3D printed living tissue, grew proteins, worked on dark matter experiments, and was half of the first all-female spacewalk.
Now Koch is preparing for his next adventure as part of the space agency's ambitious project to send humans back to the moon. With this, she will cement her own place in the history books. Koch and three other astronauts will spend 10 days orbiting the moon on the Artemis II mission, scheduled for November. However, there are lifetime safety restrictions on the amount of time astronauts can spend in space, so doing this would probably prevent them from setting foot on the moon in the future. Nevertheless, she would be the first woman to orbit Earth's satellite and look behind its mysterious backside.
Artemis II will be the first manned test of NASA's giant Space Launch System rocket and its apex Orion spacecraft, preparing for a future mission aimed at landing humans on the moon's surface for the first time since 1972. becomes. Mr. Koch said: new scientist About her important work on the ISS, the smells of space, and the unique microgravity sports you can play in orbit.
On January 8th, a Vulcan rocket carrying a lander bound for the moon will be launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Greg Newton/AFP via Getty Images
NASA's first mission to the moon since the Apollo missions of the 1970s began with the launch of a new Vulcan rocket carrying a robotic lander carrying seven scientific instruments.
The mission, which launched at 7:18 a.m. GMT on January 8 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, forms the first part of NASA's ambitious Commercial Lunar Payload Service (CLPS) program, which will launch this year. Six more launches are planned.
Unlike previous NASA missions, which were carried out almost entirely in-house, these efforts will be a public-private partnership with support from space companies. The Vulcan rocket was built by Boeing and Lockheed Martin as part of the United Launch Alliance (ULA), and the Peregrine robotic lander was built by space robotics company Astrobotic.
The lander will take 46 days to reach the moon and will attempt to land on February 23rd. If successful, it will be the first time a private spacecraft has landed on the moon.
There are several reasons why it took NASA decades to return to the moon, but the biggest one is a lack of government funding. As Cold War spending increased in the 1960s, the total federal funding NASA received peaked in 1965, and as the U.S. government made cuts, there was too little money available for further lunar exploration.
But private space companies like Elon Musk's SpaceX are now cutting the cost of space launches, allowing NASA to plan new moon missions on tighter budgets.
A successful launch could also intensify competition among private space companies. ULA was the dominant force in the U.S. space launch business before SpaceX conducted the majority of U.S. launches and dominated the launch market. Vulcan could help ULA regain lost market share.
This is especially important for ULA because it is currently on the market, with potential buyers including Jeff Bezos' spaceflight company Blue Origin.
The Peregrine lander's science instruments include lunar surface water and radiation sensors and will be essential for NASA's future human missions in the coming years as part of the CLPS program. It also carries a 2-kilogram rover designed by students at Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania and five small robots built by the Mexican Space Agency.
Vulcan has two additional payloads that have caused controversy. A company called Celestis uses cremated ashes to conduct so-called “commemorative spaceflights.” Star Trek Creator Gene Roddenberry and actors James Doohan and Nichelle Nichols will be placed into orbit around the sun, while another capsule will contain the ashes of others bound for the moon. .
The moon mission, although a private effort, is sponsored by NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services Program, which is a vital part of NASA’s initiatives to return astronauts to the moon. This initiative would enable NASA to award contracts to private companies for transporting scientific and other equipment to the moon’s surface.
“We believe this is a great approach to leverage entrepreneurship and innovation in America’s industrial base,” stated Joel Kearns, deputy assistant administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate.
Kearns mentioned that partnering with private providers will allow NASA to launch more frequent and cost-effective missions to the moon.
The mission is the Peregrine lander, a part of the Commercial Monthly Payload Service Program. The mission aims to bring five NASA instruments to the moon, including instruments to measure the radiation environment on the lunar surface and spectrometers to study the abundance of substances such as hydrogen.
The mission will also carry several other non-scientific items, including payloads from Elysium Space and Celestis, which will provide a “space burial” for cremated remains to orbit or the moon.
Astrobotic’s involvement in Celestis and Elysium Space has caused controversy. Navajo President Boo Nygren expressed in a letter to NASA and the U.S. Department of Transportation last month that leaving human remains on the moon would be a “grave desecration” of a celestial body sacred to many Native cultures.
During a press conference on Friday, Astrobotic CEO John Thornton stated that he was “disappointed” that the concerns were not raised earlier, but the company was committed to “let’s do the right thing.” He added, “I hope we can find a good path forward with the Navajo Nation.”
If the Peregrine mission launches as planned on Monday, the lander will attempt to land on the moon on February 23rd in an area known as the sticky cavewhere ancient lava once flowed.
In a pre-launch briefing, Thornton stated that the Peregrine mission is a significant step for the U.S. commercial space industry. He specifically mentioned that this flight could usher in a new era of space technology and innovation for Astrobotics and the city of Pittsburgh.
“We are bringing a new cosmic state online,” he said. “If Pittsburgh can land on the moon, Pittsburgh can do anything.”
United Launch Alliance's Vulcan rocket prepares to launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida
UPI / Alamy Stock Photo Credit: Alamy Live
The series of missions to the moon in 2024 will kick off in a big way with the first launch of the new Vulcan rocket. The launch, scheduled for January 8, will carry Astrobotic's Peregrine lander to the Moon as the first mission in NASA's ambitious Commercial Lunar Payload Service (CLPS) program.
Vulcan was manufactured by United Launch Alliance (ULA), a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin. Before SpaceX, ULA was the dominant force in the U.S. space launch business, but in recent years SpaceX has performed the majority of U.S. launches.
Vulcan could be an opportunity for ULA to regain some of its market share. This is particularly important for ULA as the company is currently up for sale. Potential buyers include Jeff Bezos' spaceflight company Blue Origin. If all goes well with this launch, six more aircraft are planned for launch in 2024.
The purpose of this launch is to transport the Peregrine lander to the lunar surface and back. If successful, it will be the first time a private company has successfully landed on the moon. The lander carries a variety of scientific instruments, including sensors to study lunar water and radiation on the lunar surface, both of which are key to understanding future human exploration. The CLPS program includes many other lunar exploration missions in the coming years that will take complementary measurements to prepare for the continued presence of humans on the lunar surface.
The rocket also carries two particularly controversial payloads. It's a capsule of human remains sent into space by a company called Celestis, which offers something called a “commemorative spaceflight.” One of these capsules contains the ashes of: Star Trek Author Gene Roddenberry and actors James Doohan and Nichelle Nichols will be sent into orbit around the sun, while another will contain the ashes of other humans bound for the moon.
Buu Nygren, the leader of the Navajo tribe, sent a letter In response to the U.S. government's opposition to loading the capsule, he stated, “Putting human remains on the moon is a grave desecration of this celestial body that our people revere.'' NASA responded that because this was a civilian mission, it had no authority over what payload it carried.
This image of Io was taken by the Juno spacecraft.
NASA/SwRI/MSSS
Thanks to NASA's Juno spacecraft, which passed the moon on December 30, we had the closest look at Jupiter's volcanic moon Io in decades.
Juno, which has been orbiting Jupiter since 2016, has increasingly taken images of Io's vicinity in recent months as its orbit around Jupiter changes.
This latest image was taken just 1500 kilometers above the moon's surface. In it, you can see some of Io's hundreds of towering mountains, some of which can exceed 10 kilometers in height, and their long, sharp shadows.
Io is thought to be the most volcanically active body in the solar system, with hundreds of active volcanoes. These volcanoes tend to be smaller than the largest mountains, averaging only 1 to 2 kilometers in height, and are difficult to see in images.
But by comparing the data with images from Juno's previous 56 lunar passes, astronomers are starting to understand how these volcanoes have changed over time and why they are so active. You can know.
Juno has also been exploring Jupiter's other moons, including Europa and Ganymede, collecting data and taking the closest images. NASA's Galileo spacecraft In February, Juno will again fly very close, about 1,500 kilometers above Io's surface.
Juno will fly close to Io seven more times before leaving orbit for Jupiter at the end of 2025, but that won't be the end of learning about Jupiter's moons. NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft, scheduled to launch in October this year, is designed to fly just 25 kilometers above the surface of Europa, considered one of the most promising sites for life on Earth. This will provide important information about the mysterious inland sea. Solar system. The spacecraft is scheduled to arrive at Europa in 2030.
As we end 2023, what does 2024 have in store for us? As a wise person new scientist As our readers know, the division of time into years is fairly arbitrary, and only tells us that the Earth has gone around the sun once (yes, I get it. 0.256363004 days is fine. (No, please pipe up in the back). So many of this year's big topics, such as the rise of artificial intelligence and the growing dangers of climate change, will remain big topics next year.
But we can't help but give new meaning to the new year.
In the relatively short period of space exploration history, the moon has experienced significant changes as a result of human activity. From the historical significance of our first footprints to the damage caused by spacecraft crashes, our impact on the moon is evident and nearly preserved within the moon’s regolith.
For the past 1.1 billion years, the Moon has been in the Copernican Era, the current epoch. Now, there are calls for a new lunar era to be formally defined: the lunar Anthropocene. This proposed era started in 1959 with Russia’s first-ever landing of the Luna 2 spacecraft on the moon. With upcoming missions like NASA’s Artemis and Lunar Gateway, further changes are expected.
Dr. Justin Holcomb, a space archaeologist, and researcher at the University of Kansas, USA, was interviewed.
What markers suggest that a new era has begun on the Moon?
Unlike the Earth’s Anthropocene, the moon provides a unique setting for human activity to be recorded due to its limited systems and ability to preserve the entirety of human history. The relatively slow impact of meteorite collisions has historically been the primary cause of change on the Moon, contrasting with the addition of the human variable now present on the lunar surface.
What’s the biggest impact we’ve had there?
When humans land on the Moon, they significantly impact the surface. However, accidental impacts, such as spacecraft crashes, pose a significant risk and have occurred multiple times since 2019. These accidents jeopardize planned areas of operation and can potentially erase important historical sites on the Moon.
What else do we have left there?
Various artifacts and items have been left on the Moon, including personal items, scientific equipment, and the national emblem on India’s rover. It’s argued that the space debris on the Moon should be considered as space heritage rather than just waste, and thus, it needs to be protected as such.
How are human activities changing the Moon’s geological processes, and to what extent can humans disrupt the balance of the Moon’s system?
The impact of human activities on the Moon’s geological processes, such as the movement of lunar regolith and potential contamination of ice due to rocket fuel, presents concerns for the future. These impacts could have far-reaching consequences and affect the balance of the Moon’s system.
How will the Moon change further for future space missions after 2024?
With a focus on mining and the potential for private companies to be involved in future space missions, the Moon is expected to experience significant changes in the coming years. The increase in planned lunar missions indicates a new phase in the relationship between humans and the moon. With the rise of private space companies, the landscape of space exploration has shifted.
About our experts
Dr. Justin Holcomb, a postdoctoral researcher at the Kansas Geological Survey at the University of Kansas, has conducted research in various scholarly publications.
International astronauts will join U.S. astronauts on the moon by the end of this decade under an agreement announced Wednesday by NASA and the White House.
The news came as Vice President Kamala Harris convened a meeting of the National Space Council in Washington, the third such meeting under the Biden administration.
There was no word on who the international moonwalker would be or what country he would represent. A NASA spokesperson later said the crew will be assigned to a location close to the lunar landing mission, and no commitments to other countries have been made yet.
NASA has been sending international astronauts on space trips for decades. Canadian Jeremy Hansen About a year from now, it will fly around the moon with three American astronauts.
Another crew member will actually land. This will be the first landing by astronauts on the moon in more than half a century. According to , it is unlikely to happen before 2027. U.S. Government Accountability Office.
All 12 moon walkers on NASA’s Apollo program in the 1960s and 1970s were U.S. citizens. The space agency’s new moon exploration program is named Artemis, after the mythical twin sister of Apollo.
Including international partners is “not only deeply appreciated, but also urgently needed in today’s world,” Hansen told the board.
NASA has long emphasized the need for global cooperation in space, and in 2020 established the Artemis Accords with the U.S. Department of State to promote responsible behavior not only on the moon but everywhere in space. Representatives from all 33 countries that have signed the agreement so far are expected to attend the Space Council meeting in Washington.
“We know from experience that cooperation in space pays off,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, citing the Webb Space Telescope, an effort between the United States, Europe and Canada, as an example.
Notably absent from the Artemis Accords are Russia and China, the only countries other than the United States that have sent their citizens into orbit. Russia is her NASA partner on the International Space Station, along with Europe, Japan and Canada. Even in the early 1990s, the Russian and U.S. space agencies collaborated on a shuttle program to launch each other’s astronauts to Russia’s former orbiting Mir base.
At Wednesday’s meeting, Harris also announced new policies to ensure the safe use of space as more private companies and nations take to the skies. The problems the United States is trying to solve include the climate crisis and the growing amount of space junk on Earth. Russia’s anti-satellite missile tests in 2021 added more than 1,500 pieces of potentially dangerous orbital debris, prompting Blinken to join other meetings and urge all countries to conduct such destructive tests. I asked them to cancel it.
This could be the first impact crater discovered on Io
NASA/JPL-California Institute of Technology/Kevin M. Gill, CC BY 2.0
Amateur astronomers may have discovered the first crater ever discovered on Jupiter’s moon Io. Io has never seen an impact crater before because it is very volcanically active and eruptions tend to erase impact craters.
Swedish amateur astronomer Jesper Sandberg discovered the apparent crater while examining archival images from the Galileo spacecraft, which orbited Jupiter from 1995 to 2003. It is relatively small, only about 100 meters in diameter, and is located on a large, flat area.
NASA’s Artemis II mission is making final preparations for its SLS rocket at Kennedy Space Center. The Orion stage adapter, a critical component that connects Orion to his SLS, recently underwent critical installation work on its diaphragm at Marshall Space Flight Center. This adapter plays an important role in preventing hydrogen gas buildup and ensuring safety during launch.Credit: NASA/Sam Lott
NASAThe Artemis II mission is making final preparations. SLS rocket. The Orion stage adapter, essential for connecting Orion to SLS and ensuring launch safety, has reached a key milestone. SLS is essential to NASA’s lunar exploration goals.
Elements of the super-heavy lift SLS (Space Launch System) rocket for NASA’s Artemis II mission are undergoing final preparations before being shipped to NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida for stacking and pre-launch activities in 2024. It is being said.
orion stage adapter
A team at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, recently installed the Orion Stage Adapter, a ring structure that connects NASA’s Orion spacecraft to the SLS rocket’s Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS), in preparation for the installation of the diaphragm. rotated. The Nov. 30 installation is one of the final steps for the adapter before it is ready to be shipped to Kennedy on NASA’s Super Guppy cargo plane.
Diaphragm safety and functionality
“The diaphragm is a composite dome-shaped structure that isolates the volume above the ICPS from the volume below Orion,” said Brent, director of Orion Stage Adapter in Marshall’s SLS Program Spacecraft/Payload Integration and Evolution Office. Gaddes said. . “This acts as a barrier between the two, allowing highly flammable hydrogen gas that could leak from the rocket’s propellant tanks to accumulate beneath the Orion spacecraft and its crew before and during launch. It prevents
Engineers at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, recently rotated, or “flipped” the smallest key element to attach critical components to NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket on Nov. 30. I let it happen. 5 feet tall, 1,800 rockets. -Pond’s Orion stage adapter connects NASA’s Orion spacecraft to his SLS rocket’s interim cryogenic propulsion stage and is manufactured entirely in Marshall. The recently installed diaphragm will act as a barrier to prevent gases generated during Artemis II’s launch from entering the spacecraft.Credit: NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center
The role of adapters in SLS Rocket
At 5 feet tall and weighing 1,800 pounds, the adapter is the smallest key element of the SLS rocket, which will generate more than 8.8 million pounds of thrust to launch the four Artemis astronauts into the constellation of Orion around the moon. . This adapter is completely manufactured by Marshall’s engineering team.
SLS: Pillar of deep space exploration
NASA is working to land the first woman and first person of color on the moon under Artemis. SLS is part of NASA’s deep space exploration backbone, along with Orion and Gateway in lunar orbit and the Commercial Manned Landing System. SLS is the only rocket capable of sending Orion, astronauts, and supplies to the moon in a single launch.
Illustration of NASA’s Cassini spacecraft diving through the plume of Saturn’s moon Enceladus.
NASA/JPL-California Institute of Technology
The plumes of water vapor spewing from Enceladus’ surface appear to contain hydrogen cyanide, which, perhaps counterintuitively, suggests that there may be life in the oceans beneath the surface of this icy moon of Saturn. It shows that it is possible.
The Cassini spacecraft flew through Enceladus’ plume several times in the early 2000s, capturing samples as it hurtled past. Preliminary analyzes of these samples have revealed several elements and compounds that may be important for life, but many are not, as the molecules tend to fracture after impacting Cassini’s sampling chamber at high speeds. It has been difficult to identify specific compounds.
Jonah Peter Researchers at Harvard University performed a reanalysis of the Cassini data using new statistical methods and were able to extract more compounds present in the plume. They found evidence of several previously undetected compounds, including hydrogen cyanide, acetylene, ethane, and even trace amounts of the alcohol methanol.
All of these compounds could be part of chemical reactions important to life, but hydrogen cyanide is particularly promising.
“We still don’t have a complete picture of the molecules that are there and are necessary for the origin of life. We don’t even know how the origin of life occurred on Earth,” Peter said. say. “But we know a lot about some of the building blocks that are necessary for the beginning of life, and hydrogen cyanide is one of those very versatile building blocks.”
We know that it can be a building block for amino acids, RNA, and other large biomolecules, so its presence in the plume points to the possibility of life in Enceladus’ subsurface ocean. That’s a good sign.
ESA’s PAVER project aimed to create paved surfaces on the lunar surface using melted lunar regolith. They conducted ground-based tests using a carbon dioxide laser and are planning to use a Fresnel lens on the Moon to focus sunlight. The successful use of lasers to melt simulated lunar dust is a significant development in addressing the challenges posed by lunar dust in future missions.
The construction of roads on the lunar surface is essential for astronauts who will likely be driving rather than walking during their missions. Lunar dust is fine, abrasive, and sticky, leading to equipment damage and spacesuit corrosion. For example, the Apollo 17 lunar rover overheated when its rear fender was lost and replaced with a lunar map, covered in kicked-up dust. The Soviet Lunokod 2 rover experienced a similar fate, dying from overheating after its radiator became covered in dust.
To prevent the accumulation of lunar dust, it is necessary to pave active areas on the Moon, including roads and landing pads. The idea of melting sand to create roads was originally proposed in 1933. ESA’s PAVER project, led by Germany’s BAM Institute for Materials Testing in collaboration with Aalen University, LIQUIFER Systems Group, and the University of Claustal in Austria and Germany, investigated the feasibility of building lunar roads using a similar approach. The project received support from the Institute for Space Materials Physics of the German Aerospace Center (DLR).
The PAVER consortium utilized a 12-kilowatt carbon dioxide laser to melt simulated lunar dust and create a glassy solid surface that can serve as a paved surface on the Moon. They achieved spot sizes of 5 to 10 cm in their trials. By utilizing a 4.5 cm diameter laser beam, they developed a strategy to produce a triangular hollow-centered geometry of about 20 cm in diameter. This approach allowed them to create solid surfaces over large areas of lunar soil suitable for roads or landing pads.
The project’s materials engineer, Advenit Makaya, explained that the current laser used in their experiment functions as a light source instead of lunar sunlight. To achieve equivalent melting on the lunar surface, the laser light would be focused using a Fresnel lens with a diameter of several meters.
The PAVER consortium’s methodology involved trial and error to determine the optimal laser beam size and geometry. They found that larger spot sizes were easier to work with, as heating on a millimeter scale produced challenging agglomeration due to surface tension. With their approach, they were able to create a stable layer of molten regolith, which could be better controlled. The resulting material is glassy and brittle but can withstand primarily downward compressive forces, potentially being repaired if needed.
The research team discovered that reheating a cooled track could cause cracks, leading them to minimize crossover in the geometry. The depth of a single melt layer achieved was approximately 1.8 cm. Depending on the required loads, the constructed structures and roads could consist of multiple layers.
The PAVER consortium estimated that a 100 square meter landing pad with a 2 cm thick high-density material could be constructed in 115 days using their approach.
The PAVER project originated from a call for ideas conducted by ESA’s Basic Activities Discovery Division through the Open Space Innovation Platform (OSIP). Out of 69 submissions, 23 ideas were implemented, including the PAVER project. The project has opened up promising avenues for future research in extraterrestrial manufacturing and construction.
Overall, the successful use of lasers to melt lunar dust represents a significant advancement towards the construction of roads and landing pads on the lunar surface, addressing the challenges posed by lunar dust in future lunar missions.
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