Archives for the 'moon' Category
Cabeus A, not Cabeus
Published on 12 Sep 2009 at 8:05 pm.
5 Comments.
Filed under astronomy, moon.
For the last couple of months, I’ve been so busy that I have not had time to do much blogging. Then, I kept wondering what to start writing about. Recently, the LCROSS program announced their target crater on the Moon: Cabeus A. That gave me an idea for what to post about.
First of all, I […]
Yes, men really did go to the Moon.
Published on 17 Jul 2009 at 4:31 pm.
6 Comments.
Filed under moon, space exploration.
Like so many other people around the world in 1969, I watched the Apollo 11 landing on the Moon unfold. I watched as the astronauts stepped forth onto the lunar surface. I followed the entire mission on television. So, it was a pretty big shock to me to find that some people didn’t believe that […]
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KAGUYA’s last images
Published on 20 Jun 2009 at 3:36 pm.
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Filed under moon, space exploration.
Japan’s KAGUYA (formerly SELENE) probe crashed into the surface of the Moon as planned this past week. Like many space probes to the Moon, the last action commanded from Earth was to crash into the Moon. This is in part a safety move to make sure that the dead spacecraft does not pose a hazard […]
KAGUYA plunges into the Moon
Published on 10 Jun 2009 at 10:05 am.
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Filed under moon, space exploration.
The KAGUYA (formerly SELENE) spacecraft is at the end of its mission. As with several other recent missions to the Moon, KAGUYA’s final action will be a deliberate plunge into the lunar surface. The orbit has already been altered, and at this late time, there is not much that could stop it from slamming into […]
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Big and Bright Moon
Published on 10 Jan 2009 at 11:19 am.
2 Comments.
Filed under astronomy, moon, skywatching.
Tonight is Full Moon. Actually, it occurs at a little before 9:30 tonight, Central Time, in the USA. It is very early Sunday morning in Europe. Full Moons occur about every 29.5 days. So, you get one every month. Every few years, you can get two in a month (one […]
Lunar Space Debris
Published on 28 Oct 2008 at 8:52 pm.
4 Comments.
Filed under moon, space debris, space exploration.
From the time that the first satellite was placed into orbit around the Earth, we have had space debris. The rocket that launched Sputnik also orbited Earth. Every launch creates more debris. Old satellites still orbit Earth. In the early days, when satellites needed to use cameras to image Earth, they […]
Earth and Luna
Published on 12 Mar 2008 at 7:02 pm.
2 Comments.
Filed under Earth, moon.
NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) left Earth August 12, 2005. It arrived at Mars about two years ago, March 10, 2006, joining a flotilla of other spacecraft studying the red planet. Last October, the MRO turned its HiRISE camera towards home, capturing the image above. The HiRISE camera (High Resolution Imaging Science […]
