Tokyo, Japan (RIA Novosti) May 27, 2010 - Japan is developing a program to build a scientific research base on the moon, Yomiuri Shimbun reported on Wednesday. The Japanese government plans to invest some 200 billion yen ($2.2 bln) on lunar research up to 2020, and will include robots operating on the moon's surface, according to the news agency.
Palo Alto CA (SPX) May 24, 2010 - Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) has announced its support for NASA's new direction in conjunction with the preliminary design review for the propulsion system that it is building for a spacecraft that will study the lunar atmosphere.
Greenbelt MD (SPX) May 17, 2010 - Located on the western limb of the Moon, Einstein and Einstein A craters (16.3oN, 271.3oE ) are only visible to Earth-based observers during certain lunar lighting and orientation conditions.
Moffett Field CA (SPX) May 17, 2010 - More than 37 years after humans last walked on the moon, planetary scientists are inviting members of the public to return to the lunar surface as virtual astronauts to help answer important scientific questions.
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Apr 27, 2010 - Using information provided by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) instrument teams, researchers at the University of California San Diego have successfully pinpointed the location of a long lost light reflector left on the lunar surface by bouncing laser signals from Earth to the Russian Lunokhod 1 retroreflector.
Washington DC (SPX) Apr 27, 2010 - As the solar wind flows over natural obstructions on the moon, it may charge polar lunar craters to hundreds of volts, according to new calculations by NASA's Lunar Science Institute team.
Sydney, Australia (SPX) Apr 20, 2010 - In 2009, it was found that some polar regions of the Moon are the coldest places in the solar system. It's even colder there than distant, frozen Pluto! Some craters are permanently blocked from sunlight, and apparently lack sources of heat from underground. These areas aren't just cold at certain times. They never get warm at all.
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Apr 19, 2010 - As the solar wind flows over natural obstructions on the moon, it may charge polar lunar craters to hundreds of volts, according to new calculations by NASA's Lunar Science Institute team.
Huntsville AL (SPX) Apr 15, 2010 - NASA has announced the victors in the 17th annual Great Moonbuggy Race: The team representing the International Space Education Institute of Leipzig, Germany, won the high school division; and racers from the University of Puerto Rico in Humacao took first place in the college division.
Sydney, Australia (SPX) Apr 15, 2010 - America's space program is clearly in a state of flux. After so much debate and announcements in recent months, we are still not entirely sure of what will happen in the next ten years. This is troubling to America's space community, but the repercussions are also being felt internationally.
Moscow (RIA Novosti) Apr 13, 2010 - The Soviet Union used U.S. photos of the Moon obtained by the secret service to plan its own lunar mission, a Russian space scientist told RIA Novosti on Monday.
Sydney, Australiw (SPX) Apr 12, 2010 - Robots are coming to a Moon near you very soon. Aside from a new fleet of orbiters, some will be landing within three years. There will be rovers deployed on the Moon, and sample return missions. This new wave of missions is brought to you by the governments of the USA, China, India and a collection of private ventures.
Paris, France (ESA) Apr 01, 2010 - The south polar region of the Moon, with dark craters and high ridges, is a world away from the relatively smooth terrain visited by Apollo astronauts four decades ago. This rugged moonscape is the target for Europe's next leap into space.
Paris (UPI) Apr 1, 2010 - The European Space Agency says it is seeking industry proposals for a lander to be used in an exploration mission to the moon's south polar region.
Cologne, Germany (SPX) Mar 29, 2010 - It takes some imagination - the new exhibit on display at the 'Out of this World - Wonders of the Solar System' exhibition at the Gasometer Oberhausen, does not look very spectacular at first glance. Lent to the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum fur Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) by NASA, it is grey in colour, small - weighing just 92.5 grams - and encased in a Plexiglas casting.
Huntsville AL (SPX) Mar 19, 2010 - Moonwater. Look it up. You won't find it. It's not in the dictionary. That's because we thought, until recently, that the Moon was just about the driest place in the solar system. Then reports of moonwater started pouring in - starting with estimates of scant amounts on the lunar surface, then gallons in a single crater, and now 600 million metric tons distributed among 40 craters near the lunar north pole.
