Huntsville AL (SPX) Jul 31, 2006 - In 1959, a spaceship fell out of the lunar sky and hit the ground near the Sea of Serenity. The ship itself was shattered, but its mission was a success. Luna 2 from the Soviet Union had become the first manmade object to land on the Moon.
Washington DC (SPX) Jul 31, 2006 - NASA announced Friday it is awarding a $136.2-million launch-services contract for its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mission to Lockheed Martin Commercial Launch Services. The contract cost includes spacecraft processing and associated mission integration services such as telemetry support and mission-unique items.
Paris, France (SPX) Jul 28, 2006 - This mosaic of three images, taken by the advanced Moon Imaging Experiment on board ESA's SMART-1 spacecraft, shows the crater Mersenius C. AMIE obtained this sequence on Jan. 13 from distances of 1,149 kilometers, 1,172 kilometers and 1,195 kilometers (712 miles, 727 miles and 741 miles), respectively.
Paris, France (SPX) Jul 26, 2006 - This image, taken by the advanced Moon Imaging Experiment on board ESA's SMART-1 spacecraft, shows crater Lomonosov on the Moon's far side. AMIE obtained the image on Jan. 30 from a distance of about 2,100 kilometers (1,300 miles) from the surface, with a ground resolution of 190 meters (617 feet) per pixel.
London (AFP) Jul 24, 2006 - The first men on the Moon had to use a pen to fix a broken switch on their lunar module and return home to Earth, British newspaper the Daily Mirror reported Monday ahead of a new television documentary.
Farnborough UK (SPX) Jul 21, 2006 - BAE Systems and its small-satellite partner, Surrey Satellite Technology (SSTL), are under contract to deliver the OBC695B processor to control a small RF subsystem that will fly as an experiment on the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft. The experiment's mission is to map the poles of the Moon. Launch is scheduled for 2007.
Paris, France (SPX) Jul 19, 2006 - This mosaic of three images, taken by the Advanced Moon Imaging Experiment on board ESA's SMART-1 spacecraft, shows the area close to the Sulpicius Gallus crater on the Moon. AMIE obtained this sequence on March 18, from a distance of 1,200 kilometers (744 miles) from the surface, with a ground resolution ranging from 110 meters to 114 meters (357 feet to 370 feet) per pixel.
A self-confessed geeky housewife said she wanted to buy a plot on the Moon after winning a million pounds ($1.8 million, 1.5 million euros) on a British television game show Sunday.
Paris, France (SPX) Jul 17, 2006 - During its 15-month science mission at the Moon, ESA's SMART-1 spacecraft has returned up to 1,000 images per week, the analyses of which are keeping scientists busy. The images are showing the Moon's surface in unprecedented detail, and ESA scientists predict they will get even better.
Paris, France (SPX) Jul 12, 2006 - This mosaic of three images, taken by the advanced Moon Imaging Experiment aboard ESA's SMART-1 spacecraft, shows Mare Humorum on the Moon. AMIE obtained the top frame on Jan. 1 from a distance of 1,087 kilometers (674 miles) from the surface, with a ground resolution of 98 meters (318 feet) per pixel.
West Palm Beach FL (SPX) Jul 07, 2006 - Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne announced Thursday its Common Extensible Cryogenic Engine has exceeded performance goals and demonstrated propulsion technologies required to land spacecraft on the Moon.
Paris, France (SPX) Jul 04, 2006 - ESA's SMART-1 spacecraft took this image of Kepler crater on the Moon using its Advanced Moon Imaging Experiment. The AMIE obtained the image on Jan. 13 from a distance ranging between 1,613 kilometers and 1,702 kilometers (1,000 miles to 1,055 miles) from the surface, with a ground resolution between 146 meters and 154 meters (475 feet and 500 feet) per pixel.
Huntsville AL (SPX) Jun 30, 2006 - Picture this: A cup of coffee, steaming and black. Add a dollop of milk and gently stir. Eddies of cream go swirling around the cup. Magnify that image a million times and you've got a Lunar Swirl.
Darmstadt, Germany (SPX) Jun 26, 2006 - After 16 months orbiting the Moon, ESA's lunar mission is preparing for the end of its scientific exploration. Last Monday, SMART-1 mission controllers initiated a 17-day series of maneuvers aimed at positioning the spacecraft to enhance science data return as the mission winds down.
Rockville, MD (SPX) Jun 19, 2006 - GMV Space Systems Inc., a satellite ground segment software company, announced Sunday that its FlexPlan software has been selected to provide the mission planning and scheduling system for NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft.
Huntsville AL (SPX) Jun 16, 2006 - There's a new crater on the Moon. It's about 14 meters wide, 3 meters deep and precisely one month, eleven days old - and NASA astronomers watched it form. A meteoroid hit the Moon's Sea of Clouds (Mare Nubium) with 17 billion joules of kinetic energy - that's about the same as 4 tons of TNT, said Bill Cooke, the head of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office at Marshall Space Flight Center.
