Back in November, the BBC aired a documentary called “Do We Really Need The Moon?” in which Dr. Maggie Aderin-Pocock (a Moon fanatic) explores our intimate relationship with the Moon. Besides causing the tides, the moon dictates the length of a day, the rhythm of the seasons and the very stability of our planet (the documentary originally aired in 2011). …

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Full Moon Silhouettes is a real time video of the moon rising over the Mount Victoria Lookout in Wellington, New Zealand. People had gathered up there this night to get the best view possible of the moon rising. Astrophotographer Mark Gee captured the video from 2.1km away on the other side of the city. It’s something that he’s been wanting …

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Setting up a lunar base could be made much simpler by using a 3D printer to build it from local materials. Industrial partners including renowned architects Foster + Partners have joined with ESA to test the feasibility of 3D printing using lunar soil.

“Terrestrial 3D printing technology has produced entire structures,” said Laurent Pambaguian, heading the project for ESA.

“Our …

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NASA has named the site where twin agency spacecraft impacted the moon Monday in honor of the late astronaut Sally K. Ride, who was America’s first woman in space and a member of the probes’ mission team. Last Friday (Dec. 14), Ebb and Flow, the two spacecraft comprising NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission, were commanded to …

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Twin lunar-orbiting NASA spacecraft that have allowed scientists to learn more about the internal structure and composition of the moon are being prepared for their controlled descent and impact on a mountain near the moon’s north pole at about 2:28 p.m. PST (5:28 p.m. EST) Monday, Dec. 17.


Last Flight for GRAIL’s Twin Spacecraft: This still image and animation shows …

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Twin NASA probes orbiting Earth’s moon have generated the highest resolution gravity field map of any celestial body.


This movie shows the variations in the lunar gravity field as measured by NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) during the primary mapping mission from March to May 2012. Very precise microwave measurements between two spacecraft, named Ebb and Flow, were …

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Europe’s latest weather satellite got a glimpse of the Moon before our celestial neighbour disappeared from view behind Earth on Friday. Since its launch two months ago, MSG-3 has been working well and is on its way to entering service.

The image shows the second full Moon of the month – known as a ‘blue’ Moon – just before it …

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On the morning of 3 September 2006, a brief flash illuminated the Moon’s ‘Lake of Excellence’ as ESA’s SMART-1 mission met its fate on the dusty surface.

Launched in 2003, SMART-1 was the first European spacecraft to travel to and orbit the Moon.


SMART-1 ended its journey in the Lake of Excellence at 34ºS / 46ºW at 05:42:22 GMT on …

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NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft has returned data that indicate ice may make up as much as 22 percent of the surface material in a crater located on the moon’s south pole.


Elevation (left) and shaded relief (right) image of Shackleton, a 21-km-diameter (12.5-mile-diameter) permanently shadowed crater adjacent to the lunar south pole. The structure of the crater’s interior …

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A NASA mission to study the moon from crust to core has completed its prime mission earlier than expected. The team of NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission, with twin probes named Ebb and Flow, is now preparing for extended science operations starting Aug. 30 and continuing through Dec. 3, 2012.


An artist’s depiction of the twin spacecraft …

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