Moscow (AFP) April 29, 2007 - The head of Russia's space agency Sunday said the US has rebuffed an offer from Moscow to jointly explore the moon, while announcing a separate contract with NASA for nearly one billion dollars for the International Space Station. Roskosmos chief Anatoly Perminov was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency that Russia had proposed pooling resources to explore the moon.
Moscow (SPX) Apr 23, 2007 - As Russia's latest space tourist vovage ended, the Russia's Space Agency signaled it was ready to considering sending Russia's richest man, London-based Roman Abramovich, on a flight around the Moon for $300 million after 2010.
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Apr 20, 2007 - Of the two luminaries that dominate our sky, it is the moon that is of particular interest to the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) project. The LRO will travel to the moon in late fall 2008, mapping the surface to help pave the way for humans to return. It will help prepare us for extended surface exploration on the moon and for subsequent missions to Mars and other distant destinations. Lunar surface exploration will help us to practice living, working, and gathering science data before we venture into riskier territory.
Huntsville AL (SPX) Apr 17, 2007 - Speeding across a simulated lunar surface, the Rochester Institute of Technology of Rochester, N.Y., rumbled to victory in the college division of NASA's 14th annual Great Moonbuggy Race in Huntsville, Ala.
Beijing (XNA) Apr 03, 2007 - Shanghai has developed a prototype lunar rover it hopes will be chosen for China's first landing on the moon in 2012, researchers said over the weekend. The remote-controlled vehicle was unveiled on Saturday at a China-United Kingdom space technology seminar at the Shanghai Aerospace System Engineering Institute in Minhang District in the city's south.
Moffett Field CA (SPX) Apr 02, 2007 - As the drive to explore and colonize the moon switches into high gear, some scientists worry that funding exploration could drain resources away from pure science. One principle of the upcoming manned missions, said Paul Spudis, of the Planetary Exploration Group at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, is to try to understand what is involved in cutting the logistical cord with Earth.
Mountain View CA (SPX) Mar 27, 2007 - As NASA makes plans to send humans back to the moon, this time to live and work there for extended periods of time, one of the most vexing problems they may be faced with is dust. Lunar dust is pervasive and nasty stuff, which could pose health problems for astronauts, as well as problems for mechanical and electrical systems.
Beijing (Xinhua) Mar 19, 2007 - China may launch its first lunar satellite in September this year, the official People's Daily said in its overseas edition Saturday, quoting head of the country's Commission of Science Technology and Industry for National Defense. Preparatory work for the Chang'e I lunar orbiter is going according to schedule, and the orbiter may be launched in September this year, said Zhang Yunchuan, the commission's director.
Fayetteville AK (SPX) Mar 19, 2007 - Studies conducted by University of Arkansas researchers suggest locations where future Mars missions might seek liquid water underneath Martian soil. Graduate students Kathryn Bryson and Daniel Ostrowski, postdoctoral researcher Vincent Chevrier and Derek Sears, director of the Arkansas Center for Space and Planetary Sciences, will present their findings Friday, March 16, at the Lunar and Planetary Sciences conference in Houston.
Beijing (AFP) March 17, 2007 - A Chinese company has been banned from selling plots of land on the moon, state media reported on Saturday. The company, Lunar Embassy to China, had sold a total of 49 acres (20 hectares) to 34 customers before authorities acted, Xinhua news agency said. An appeal court on Friday upheld an earlier ruling against the Beijing-based firm which had been selling the lunar plots.
Huntsville AL (SPX) Mar 15, 2007 - NASA scientist Bill Cooke is shooting marbles and he's playing keepsies. The prize won't be another player's marbles, but knowledge that will help keep astronauts safe when America returns to the Moon in the next decade.
Paris, France (ESA) Mar 11, 2007 - SMART-1 data are helping to choose future landing sites for robotic and possible manned missions, and its instruments are upgraded and being flown again on the next generation of lunar satellites, says Bernard Foing, ESA SMART-1 Project scientist. Even its spectacular impact campaign is helping NASA to plan their own moon crash.
Beijing (XNA) Mar 08, 2007 - China has finished assembling its first lunar satellite probe after three years of research and development, Luan Enjie, chief commander of the country's lunar exploration program, told Xinhua Tuesday. The carrier rocket, a Long March 3-A, which will be used to push the orbiter, Chang'e I, into the outer space, is currently under testing, Luan said on the sidelines of the annual session of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China's top advisory body.
Beijing (XNA) Mar 07, 2007 - China has possessed the technical capacity to send spacemen to the moon in 15 years, a leading rocket expert said on Tuesday. Huang Chunping, the chief launch vehicle designer of the country's manned space flight program, told Xinhua that China is well capable to send manned spacecraft to the moon in 15 years given an adequate funding and punctual project launching.
Paris, France (ESA) Mar 06, 2007 - SMART-1 has investigated lunar areas at the edge of Luna Incognita. This area near the lunar poles can be used for lunar science studies, or even to prepare for human bases on the Moon and on Mars. Mankind did not see the land called Luna Incognita, until the first probes sent images of the lunar farside.
Beijing (AFP) March 6, 2007 - China will launch its first lunar probe this year and the nation's fledgling space programme will have the ability to land a man on the moon within 15 years, state press reported Tuesday. The Chang'e I lunar probe will be launched later this year aboard a Long March 3-A carrier rocket, Huang Chunping, the former head of rocket science at China's manned space programme, told Xinhua news agency.
