Europe pushing by ESA will start a new space project and will send humans back to the moon by 2030

Dear readers and followers,

+NASA and the private space industry has its sights set on putting a human on Mars. Europe, however, has slightly more modest goals; it wants to put humans back on the moon and build a base.

The +European Space Agency, ESA has announced its intentions to send astronauts to our nearest satellite by 2030. A video posted on the agency's website titled 'Destination Moon' sets out the plan that  will see European developed robots sent to the surface first.

"This return to the Moon envisions a series of human missions starting in the early 2020s that would see astronauts interact with robots on the lunar surface from orbit," a statement on the ESA website says. "Eventually we will see a sustained infrastructure for research and exploration where humans will live and work for prolonged periods," the video's narrator says. This plan could look like the space base presented in the movie The Martian, but on the lunar land.

"Here we will put into practice the lessons of the International Space Station, to establish a facility akin to those we see in Antarctica today. In the future the moon can become a place where the nations of the world work together."

The ESA says that it will learn "lessons" from its experience in building and maintaining International Space Station, where British astronaut Tim Peake is currently based.

Unlike the 1960s space race, which led to the Apollo missions putting man on the moon's surface for the first time, this attempt will not be a competition. Both the Russian space agency and the China National Space Administration each have their own plans to explore the moon. ESA's announcement may be welcome however, with Russian plans for exploration potentially faltering due to economic problems.

"This new exploration will be achieved not in competition, as in the past, but through peaceful, international cooperation," the video says.

Plans for the mission include projects to explore the unknown parts of the moon, as human and robot exploration of the satellite has mostly focused on the surface that faces the Earth and that around the equator. The ESA-led mission, which will work in collaboration with others, including Nasa, will look to learn more about "the polar regions hand-in-hand with robots".

"In the coming years we will see explorers at the lunar poles; exploiting the sunlight for solar power and performing research to benefit life on Earth and to understand our place in the universe," the video says.

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March 20th Eclipse from Warwickshire in UK

Dear reader and follower,

I hope you enjoyed the eclipse this morning, please find this picture taken this morning from Warwickshire, UK, even with the bad weather. 

The eclipse has been also from space by +European Space Agency, ESA using the Proba2 satellite

Credit image: ESA

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Volcanos activity on the moon

Dear readers and followers,

Volcanic activity continued on the moon until it halted a billion years ago, or so scientists have long thought about the Moon. However, a new discovery by a group of geologists at +Arizona State University's School of Earth and Space Exploration shows that the moon has seen small but widespread eruptions of basaltic lava during the last 50 million years, a geologically recent period.

Credit image: +NASA 

The discovery was announced in a paper published online October 12th in Nature Geoscience. The science team identified 70 small volcanic features scattered across the moon's dark volcanic plains, or maria. The features show as a combination of smooth, low, rounded mounds near patches of rough, blocky terrain. The scientists refer to these unusual areas as irregular mare patches.

The features are too small to be seen from Earth, averaging less than 500 meters across their largest dimension. One feature named Ina has been known for a long time, having been imaged from lunar orbit by Apollo 15 astronauts in the 1970s. Several early studies indicated that Ina could be very young (10 million years or less), but only a few irregular mare patches were known then, and their significance was unclear.

It was not until the scientists had high-resolution images showing the entire moon that the full extent and significance of the small lava features were understood. These images are the product of the two Narrow Angle Cameras that form part of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera system. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera's Science Operations Center is located on ASU's Tempe campus.

Credit image: +NASA 

The crater-counting dates are linked to laboratory ages provided by Apollo and Luna samples. The results show that instead of lunar volcanism stopping abruptly about a billion years ago, it ended more gradually, continuing until less than 50 million years ago.

Activity at Ina, the scientists found, ended about 33 million years ago, and at another irregular mare patch, Sosigenes, it stopped only about 18 million years ago. (In contrast, most of the lava flows that make up the dark plains visible by eye from Earth erupted between 3.5 and 1 billion years ago.)

The discovery gives the moon's volcanic history a new chapter. As Braden says, "Our understanding of the moon is drastically changed by the evidence for volcanic eruptions at ages much younger than previously thought possible, and in multiple locations across the lunar maria."

Source

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Water on the moon came from the sun

Dear readers and followers,

on Monday october 6th, scientifs published really interesting work about the origin of water on Moon. Water trapped in rocks on the moon's surface probably originated mostly from streams of energetic particles blasted from the sun and not from cosmic impacts from comets, researchers say.

For years, scientists argued over whether the moon harbored water or not. Recent findings confirmed that water does exist on the moon, although its surface remains drier than any desert on Earth. +NASA officials have suggested this water could one day help support colonies on the moon and missions to Mars and beyond.

It remained uncertain where all of this water came from. One possibility is that it was delivered by impacts from carbonaceous chondrites, meteorites that can be rich in water, and from comets. Another is that water formed on the moon after exposure to the solar wind, streams of high-energy particles from the sun. Atoms of hydrogen in the solar wind can react with oxygen trapped in moon rocks to form water.

To help find out where lunar water came from, scientists analyzed 45 microscopic grains of dust that astronauts on NASA's Apollo 16 and 17 missions brought from the moon. They focused on levels of different isotopes of elements within these dust grains. Isotopes differ from each other in how many neutrons there are in their atoms — for instance, normal hydrogen atoms do not have any neutrons, while atoms of deuterium, an isotope of hydrogen, each possess one neutron. Water can be made with deuterium as well as with normal hydrogen.

The sun is naturally low in deuterium because its nuclear reactions quickly consume the isotope. All other bodies in the solar system possess relatively high levels of deuterium, remnants that existed in the nebula of gas and dust that gave birth to the solar system. By analyzing the ratio of deuterium to hydrogen in the water in moon dust, the researchers could deduce whether the water originated from the sun or elsewhere, such as chondrites.

One complicating factor in this analysis is that cosmic rays — high-energy particles from deep space — can generate deuterium when they slam into the moon. To account for how cosmic rays can influence deuterium levels on the moon, the scientists also looked at levels of lithium-6, an isotope of lithium that cosmic rays would also generate when they hit the moon. By examining the ratio of lithium-6 to normal lithium, the researchers deduced how often cosmic rays struck the moon and generated deuterium as well as lithium-6.

The researchers expected to find water from chondrites in the interiors of the lunar dust grains and water from both chondrites and the solar wind in the exteriors or rims of these grains. Surprisingly, the water in both the interiors and exteriors of these dust grains apparently originated mainly from the solar wind.

These findings suggest that any water that cosmic impacts bring to the moon is not retained much. At most, an average of 15 percent of the hydrogen in lunar soil may come from chondritic water, the researchers said.

Source: journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

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NASA publishes 3D-printable models of asteroids and satellites

Dear readers and followers,

Do you have a favorite NASA satellite? There's a small chance that you can now make a tiny figurine out if it using a 3D printer, as NASA has transformed a number of spacecrafts, asteroids, and features of Mars and the Moon into 3D-printable models. NASA has actually provided free 3D models for years now, but it appears that just recently it updated its modeling site with 22 files designed for 3D printing. The printable models have all been scaled down to a size that can actually fit inside a printer, so each one should measure no more than  10 centimeters long at its widest point.

Gale crate: Credit image: NASA

The available models include the spacecrafts Cassini, Kepler, and Voyager, parts of Mars including the Gale Crater and Valles Marineris canyons, and parts of the Moon including scans of its near and far side. Even if you don't own a 3D printer, the models come from NASA, so you should be able to send a favorite off to a printing service to have it made. 

Cassini spacecraft: Credit image: NASA

That said, NASA doesn't make it sound as though these models are necessarily perfect for printing just yet, and it's looking for comments on whether any of its currently published models need to have adjustments made to them for a successful print.

Contact me if you have any specific questions or to correct some typo error in the articles. 

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Tonight check out the asteroid 2014 DX110 closer than the Moon

Dear readers and followers,

Tonight, at 10 pm CET (1 p.m. PST) Wednesday March 5th, an asteroid will very close to Earth. Actually closer than the distance from Earth to the Moon. 

This time, the asteroid called 2014 DX110 is estimated to be around 30 meter of diameter and its closest approach to our planet will be around 350,000 km. NASA is used to detect, track and characterizes space comets and hazardous asteroids. A dedicated program called Near-Earth Object Observation, also named Spaceguard has been created by the space agency in order to present dramatic event. This kind of event is quite usual, actually around 20 times a year said +NASA . 

Credit: +NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory 

Last month, a hazardous asteroid with a diameter estimated to 3 times the size of a football field and called 2000 EM26 passed close to Earth. This time due to weather conditions, none observation gears could take some great picture of the asteroid.

Credit image: Daily Galaxy

This time we hope that official observation places and amateur astro-photographers could take some impressive picture of the asteroid 2014 DX110.

Live video by +Slooh of the asteroid tracking :

Stay tuned for pictures from all around the world

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First picture of the Moon taken by the NASA's probe LADEE

Dear readers,

while NASA is exploring Mars since August 2012 with Curiosity, The US space agency has some ambitions for our satellite, the Moon. The mission LADEE is a part of that.

LADEE was launched on September 7th 2013, from the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia by a Minotaur V space rocket.

Few days ago, the NASA lunar spacecraft, sent its first picture of the Moon taken by on-board camera systems, known as star trackers. The main craters on the lunar surface can be identified. it's really impressive. 

Credit: NASA 

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Saturn planet just behind the Moon

Credit image: Colin Legg

360° panorama from the Chinese Moon rover: Change's 3

Dear followers,

after its landing on our Moon, Chang'e3, the Chinese space rover, is exploring the Moon land.  

Lunar panorama: Chang’e 3 lander in The World

The Chinese spacecraft is in Lunar orbit

Dear followers,

few days ago, China sent its third spacecraft for a Lunar mission with the support of the European Space Agency for the communication with the spacecraft. 

Last Friday, so, less than five days after leaving Earth, the China's Chang'e 3 spacecraft reached lunar orbit to prepare for an historic landing on the Moon. The landing should take place in the moon's Bay of Rainbows, a dark lava plain on the upper-left quadrant of the moon's near side, around December 14th 2013.

Credit: China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation

The spacecraft is now flying in orbit 100 km above the Moon. This week it plans to move down and lost its altitude. The spacecraft, Chang'e 3, will use its main engine to make a soft landing in the Moon ground. In order to guide its landing, the spacecraft will use some terrain recognition sensors. Around 1 meter above the moon, the lander will autonomously cut off its engine and drop to the lunar surface.

Stay tuned for the live landing in the next days.

ESA collaborates with China for its mission to the Moon

Dear followers,

as you know, few days ago, the China National Space Administration sent its first rover, called Yutu, to the Moon. For this mission, China is helped by the +European Space Agency, ESA . Actually, after the liftoff of the China’s Chang’e 3 spacecraft, the ESA's network of tracking stations is providing a crucial support during all the Lunar cruise of the spacecraft. This mission is the third Chinese mission to the moon after the Chang'e 1 and Chang'e 2 lunar orbiter flights, launched in 2007 and 2010, respectively.

Credit: CCTV

After its liftoff from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the country's Sichuan province, the ESA’s station in Kourou, French Guiana, started receiving signals from the spacecraft and uploading commands on behalf of the Chinese control center. This tracking is operated during the voyage to the Earth's moon. Next, during the descent and after the landing some other ESA's space stations will follow the rover Yutu mission.

Credits: ESA

The landing of Yutu is planned to be in the Sea of Rainbows on December 14th 2013. This landing will be the first since Russia’s Luna-24 in 1976. This mission is the second step of the China's lunar exploration program. That program consists of three major steps: Orbit, land and finally return some Moon rock samples to Earth by 2020.

 Credits: China National Space Administration

Stay tunes for the next news during the phases of descend and landing on December 14th.

Amateur photograph of Earth's moon October 22nd 2013

Credits: +Kevin Franklin 

Details of the photograph: Waning gibbous phase 22nd October 2013, around 1240 UTC. 18.1 days old, 87.2% illuminated.
Mosaic of 5 .ser video files at 7fps in full resolution in Firecaptue with QHY 5L-II mono CCD.

Moon eclipse 2007 taken from the Paranal observatory in Chile

Credits: Stéphane Guisard

Venus, Earth, our Moon, Mars and Saturn's moon Titan

Source: +reddit 

The Online Astronomy Society Word magazine October 2013

The Online Astronomy Society is proposing this magazine, let us know your feelings about

3753 Cruithne the second Moon of Earth ?

Dear followers,

In March of 2012, astronomers at +Cornell University published the result of a computer study, presenting that asteroids orbiting the sun might temporarily become natural satellites of Earth. They are called quasi-satellite. The most famous quasi-satellite is also called the second moon for Earth is 3753 Cruithne. This object is five kilometers wide ( 3 miles). 

Credits: 3753 Cruithne

A quasi-satellite is an object in a co-orbital configuration with a reference planet (for 3753 it's Earth). Scientists would say there is a 1:1 orbital resonance between Earth and this object. In other words, a quasi-satellite is orbiting the sun, like Earth. Its orbit around the sun takes exactly the revolution time as Earth’s orbit, but the shape is slightly different.

Astronomers discovered 3753 Cruithne in 1986, but it wasn't until 1997 that they figured out its complex orbit. It’s not a second moon for Earth; it doesn't orbit Earth. But 3753 Cruithne is co-orbiting the sun with Earth. Like all quasi-satellites, 3753 Cruithne orbits the sun once for every orbit of Earth.

Water on the Moon found

Dear followers,

a new study, published on the journal Nature Geoscience, has revealed the probably presence of water on the Moon when it first formed 4.5 billion year ago.

The new water signatures discovered in the center peak of Bullialdus crater on the Moon have the form of hydroxyl molecules. Hydroxyls are molecules consisting of an oxygen atom connected to a hydrogen atom. The pairing is often seen as a substructure of the water molecule.

Credits: +NASA / +Arizona State University 

The scientists have detected magnetic water on the surface of the Moon. This type of water  is originating from deep within the Moon's interior. These findings has been performed using data from +NASA 's Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) carried on-board India's Chandrayann-1 lunar orbiter.

Sources: +Universe Today and +Astro Watch 

Amazing video of 2 Mars moons captured by Mars Curiosity

Credits: +NASA / +NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory 

No Star Treck names for the Pluto's moons

Dear followers,

the two last moons discovered in orbit around Pluto in 2011 and 2012 by the +Hubble Space Telescope, has firstly called by numerical identifiers, respectively P4 and P5. Actually, in astronomy, naming of planets go to the finders and in this case, that honor went to a scientific team led by +Mark Showalter a researcher at the +SETI Institute in Mountain View, California.

Credits: +NASA 

After a online vote, many fans of +Star Trek proposed the name of Vulcan, the name of Spock's home planet. However, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) rejected this proposition. Actually, Vulcan was the name given to a hypothetical planet astronomers thought they had discovered between the Sun and Mercury back in the 1800s.

Finally, the two Pluto's moons will be called Kerosene and Styx, two names of the roman and greck mythology.

Super Moon June 23 2013

Credits: Ann Thomas Grant

Credits: Priya Kumar