Moon
Just in time for the Wolf Moon on January 28, a study sheds light on the link between sleep and lunar cycles.
It's the first time water on sunlit areas of the lunar surface has been confirmed.
The space agency unveiled its Artemis Plan to reestablish a presence on the moon "in preparation for human exploration of Mars."
India launched a rocket into space on Monday carrying the unmanned Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft, heading for the moon. The mission will see a rover land on the lunar surface to carry out studies on the presence of water. The launch had been delayed by a week due to technical complications.
It’s been half a century since humankind first landed on the moon. When astronaut Neil Armstrong took the first step in 1969, over half a billion people were watching at home for the climax of a Space Race between nations. Twelve people walked on the lunar surface as part of the Apollo missions, and today a new race to return to the moon is underway.
A partial lunar eclipse will be visible tonight over Africa, the Middle East and parts of Europe. Stargazers in the UK should see the moon appear red at around 22:30 BST, provided the skies are clear. The lunar eclipse coincides with the Apollo 11 mission lifting off from Cape Kennedy on this day in 1969. The astronauts landed on the moon four days later.
Unlike a solar eclipse, it’s entirely safe to watch a lunar eclipse with the naked eye.
As Apollo 11 launched from on 16 July 1969, a sea of men watched on from inside NASA's firing room in Florida. Among them was one woman. JoAnn Morgan made her prime-time debut as the first female launch controller during Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins’ historic mission to the moon. But getting there wasn’t easy.
NASA has announced plans for a new mission to the moon which, for the first time in history, will include women. The new mission is named Artemis, the twin sister of Apollo and goddess of the moon, and will mark humankind’s return to the moon after almost fifty years. Women have been visiting space since 1963, but all twelve astronauts who walked on the surface of the moon in the Apollo programme were men.
Monitoring devices placed on the moon by Apollo missions 11, 12, 14, 15, and 16 were able to record seismic activity between 1969 and 1977. Combined with new location data, scientists at the Center for Earth and Planetary Studies at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum have determined that the moon is experiencing quakes as it cools and shrinks, meaning it’s a tectonically active world.