There is no sight in the universe as dazzling as the moon, but medieval lore says that the radiant beauty also possessed mystical powers. In European mythology, people believed in a myth that a full moon could turn people into werewolves. The Greek philosopher Aristotle and the Roman historian Pliny the Elder suggested that the … Read more
The July 2024 New Moon occurs today, when Earth reaches its furthest point from the Sun, known as aphelion. According to the U.S. Naval Observatory, the new moon will occur on July 5 at 6:57 p.m. Eastern Time (22:57 UTC), and two days later the young moon will pass Mercury in the evening sky. Earth … Read more
Engineers are currently busy making the first parts of what will eventually become the Gateway Space Station. One day, if all goes according to plan, Gateway will serve as the first lunar orbiting space station, and the moon’s first true transportation hub. While not intended to be permanently inhabited, the station is being built to … Read more
On June 27, asteroid 2011 UL21 passed relatively close to Earth, flying past our planet at a distance of 6.6 million kilometers (4.1 million miles), which is about 17 times the average distance from Earth to the Moon. While it wasn’t close enough to worry about, the encounter gave astronomers a chance to get a … Read more
June 25, 2024, marked a new “first” in spaceflight history. China’s Chang’e 6 spacecraft brought back rock samples from a vast region of the moon called the South Pole-Aitken Basin. After landing on the moon’s “far side,” the southern rim of the Apollo Crater, Chang’e 6 returned with about 1.9 kg of rock and soil, … Read more
The European Space Agency ESA has created its own version of a Lego brick that is 3D printed from meteorite dust. The organization is using it to investigate how buildings can be built in space. The “space bricks,” as Lego and the European Space Agency (ESA) call them, are made from the dust of a … Read more
The moon is known for its gray, pockmarked appearance. But did you know that if you point a telescope at a satellite next to our planet, you will also see bright spots on the lunar surface? Since these strange phenomena, known as lunar whirls, were first noticed in the 17th century, scientists have wondered where … Read more
NASA has selected astronaut Andre Douglas as a backup crew member for the agency’s Artemis II test flight, the first crewed mission under NASA’s Artemis campaign. Douglas will train with NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Jeremy Hansen. If a NASA astronaut is unable to participate … Read more
WASHINGTON — While NASA is pushing ahead with a crewed moon landing during the Artemis 3 mission in September 2026, the agency’s own analysis estimates there is a nearly one-in-three chance that the lander will be at least a year and a half late. That review grew out of a confirmation review for the Human … Read more
Jupiter’s moon Io, which is as full of volcanoes as a porcupine is full of quills, is the most volcanically active world in the solar system. At any given time, about 150 of Io’s 400 or so active volcanoes are erupting. The moon is constantly spewing lava and gas, a veritable factory of volcanic excretions. … Read more