Moon

Planets on parade: 5 will be lined up in night sky this week

Keep an eye to the sky this week for a chance to see a planetary hangout. Five planets Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Uranus and Mars will line up near the moon. WHERE AND WHEN CAN YOU SEE THEM? The best day to catch the whole group is Tuesday. You'll want to look to the western horizon right after sunset, said NASA astronomer Bill Cooke. The planets will stretch from the horizon line to around halfway up the night sky. But don't be late: Mercury and Jupiter will quickly dip below the horizon around half an hour after sunset. The five-planet spread can be seen from anywhere on Earth, as long as you have clear skies and a view of the west. That's the beauty of these planetary alignments. It doesn't take much, Cooke said. DO I NEED BINOCULARS? Maybe. Jupiter, Venus and Mars will all be pretty easy to see since they shine brightly, Cooke said. Venus will be one of the brightest things in the sky, and Mars will be hanging out near the moon with a reddish glow. Mercury and Uranus could

Isro discussing possible mission to moon with Japanese agency: S Somanath

Indian Space Research Organisation chairman S Somanath on Wednesday said ISRO has successfully done significant collaborations on its space missions and is also discussing a possible mission to the moon with Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Somanath also said there is a good opportunity to launch a mission to explore planet Venus by 2028. He was delivering the inaugural talk on "Indian Capabilities for Space and Planetary Exploration" at the 4th Indian Planetary Science Conference organised at Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) here. The ISRO chief said it was important to have a connection between scientific institutions across the world and ISRO in building complex missions. He cited the example of the TRISHNA mission, designed to observe the earth's surface in the thermal infrared domain, which has been developed by ISRO and its French counterpart CNES. "We are also discussing a possible mission to the moon with JASA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) where the land rover

UK govt powers up Rolls-Royce's plan to build N-reactor on moon

The UKSA said it wanted to establish a new power source to support systems for communications, life-support and scientific experiments on the Moon

Kids can launch a rocket to Moon like NASA Artemis team with Minecraft

The collaboration between NASA and Minecraft is part of an existing partnership between NASA's Office of STEM Engagement and Microsoft

Group of lunar meteorites throw light on origin of basalts on Moon: ISRO

A team of scientists from Ahmedabad-based Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), the United States and Japan has found a unique group of ancient lunar basaltic meteorites, suggesting a new scenario for the origin of lunar basalts, according to ISRO. PRL, which is a unit of the Department of Space, carries out fundamental research in select areas of physics, space and atmospheric sciences, astronomy, astrophysics and solar physics, and planetary and geo-Sciences. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) issued a statement on Thursday saying the Moon's dark regions that are visible to the naked eye, known as the 'mare', are remnants of a violent history of the Solar System. There are no records, though, of these frenzied events on Earth. The Moon, having changed very little over billions of years, provides us a window to ponder over the past. The large mare regions on the near side of the Moon, that can be seen from Earth, mainly consists of basalts comprising volcanic rocks, it ...

NASA's Orion spacecraft successfully enters orbit around the moon

NASA's Orion capsule has entered an orbit stretching tens of thousands of miles around the moon, as it neared the halfway mark of its test flight. The capsule and its three test dummies entered lunar orbit more than a week after launching on the USD4 billion demo that's meant to pave the way for astronauts. It will remain in this broad but stable orbit for nearly a week, completing just half a lap before heading home. As of Friday's engine firing, the capsule was 238,000 miles (380,000 kilometers) from Earth. It's expected to reach a maximum distance of almost 270,000 miles (432,000 kilometers) in a few days. That will set a new distance record for a capsule designed to carry people one day. It is a statistic, but it's symbolic for what it represents, Jim Geffre, an Orion manager, said in a NASA interview earlier in the week. It's about challenging ourselves to go farther, stay longer and push beyond the limits of what we've previously explored. NASA considers this a dress rehearsa

China plans to build its first moon base powered by nuclear energy by 2028

China plans to build its first base on the moon by 2028, ahead of landing astronauts there in subsequent years as the country steps up its challenge to NASA's dominance in space exploration

Nasa Orion spacecraft makes closest flyby of Moon at 130 kms distance

NASA's Orion spacecraft has successfully performed its first Moon flyby as part of the uncrewed Artemis I mission, to pass within 130 kms of the lunar surface

Nasa's Orion capsule buzzes moon, last big step before lunar orbit

NASA's Orion capsule reached the moon Monday, whipping around the back side and passing within 80 miles (128 km) on its way to a record-breaking lunar orbit. The close approach occurred as the crew capsule and its three test dummies were on the far side of the moon. Because of the half-hour communication blackout, flight controllers in Houston did not know if the critical engine firing went well until the capsule emerged from behind the moon, more than 232,000 miles (375,000 km) from Earth. It's the first time a capsule has visited the moon since NASA's Apollo programme 50 years ago, and represented a huge milestone in the $4.1 billion test flight that began last Wednesday. Orion's flight path took it over the landing sites of Apollo 11, 12 and 14 humanity's first three lunar touchdowns. The moon loomed ever larger in the video beamed back earlier in the morning, as the capsule closed the final few thousand miles since blasting off last Wednesday from Florida's Kennedy Space Centre

NASA's mightiest moon rocket Artemis 1 blasts off 50 years after Apollo

NASA's new moon rocket blasted off on its debut flight with three test dummies aboard early Wednesday, bringing the US, a big step closer to putting astronauts back on the lunar surface for the first time since the end of the Apollo programme 50 years ago. If all goes well during the three-week, make-or-break shakedown flight, the rocket will propel an empty crew capsule into a wide orbit around the moon, and then the capsule will return to Earth with a splashdown in the Pacific in December. After years of delays and billions in cost overruns, the Space Launch System rocket thundered skyward, rising from Kennedy Space Centre 4 million kilograms of thrust and hitting 160 kph within seconds. The Orion capsule was perched on top, ready to bust out of Earth orbit toward the moon not quite two hours into the flight. The moonshot follows nearly three months of vexing fuel leaks that kept the rocket bouncing between its hangar and the pad. Forced back indoors by Hurricane Ian at the end

Last lunar eclipse of 2022: Why does the Moon appear red during this event

Unlike solar eclipses, there are no harmful rays emitted during a lunar eclipse, so it's safe to watch it with the naked eyes

Beaver Blood Moon lunar eclipse on November 8; here's all you need to know

Commonly known as the Blood Moon, a total lunar eclipse occurs when the full moon moves into the deep umbral shadow of the Earth and receives light only first filtered by Earth's atmosphere

NASA Artemis I: Fuel seals repaired, likely to launch moon rocket on Sep 23

NASA had to scrub two launch attempts as the rocket experienced technical glitches, including a fuel leak

The many questions Artemis will answer as humans look to Mars via moon

Parked near the moon, how do they eat, breathe, cope with isolation, radiation?

Explained: NASA postpones Artemis 1 launch; here's what we know so far

Artemis 1 was supposed to orbit the moon, deploy some satellites, and settle into the orbit. It was meant to test SLS rocket and the Orion crew capsule

Artemis 1: Maiden flight of spacecraft set to take humans back to the Moon

Artemis 1: maiden flight of spacecraft set to take humans back to the Moon here's what needs to go right

Earth to witness biggest supermoon of the year today: Check details

The supermoon be visible for the next three days and people across the world would be able to see till Friday morning, according to Nasa

NASA satellite breaks from orbit around the Earth, heads to moon

It will take another four months for the satellite to reach the moon, as it cruises along using minimal energy

Scientists for first time grow plants in lunar soil brought back to Earth

The researchers at the University of Florida (UF) in the US showed that plants can successfully sprout and grow in lunar soil

India, with lunar odyssey planned this year, is among many looking moonward

The Chinese already have robotic probes on the moon, including a lander-rover set on the dark side