Archives for the 'moon' Category
SMART-1 (Part Two)
Published on 1 Sep 2006 at 1:42 pm.
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Filed under moon, space exploration.
Yesterday, I had a posting about the European Space Agency’s SMART-1 craft. For the last couple of years, SMART-1 has been circling the Moon. Well, it is at the end of its mission. So, rather than let it die and continue to orbit the Moon forever as a piece of space junk, ESA has decided […]
SMART-1 (Part One)
Published on 31 Aug 2006 at 4:12 pm.
1 Comment.
Filed under moon, rockets.
The vast majority of space missions to the Moon have either been launched by the United States or the Soviet Union. However, in recent years, others have been getting in on the act. On September 27, 2003, the European Space Agency launched SMART-1 to the Moon. While most missions to the Moon took days to […]
The dark side of the Moon.
Published on 22 Aug 2006 at 8:05 pm.
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Filed under moon, space exploration.
Every now and then, someone will ask be about the dark side of the Moon. “What is the dark side of the Moon like?” or “How many people have ever been to (or seen) the dark side of the Moon?” The assumption here is that the dark side of the Moon is the […]
Read ‘The dark side of the Moon.’
How does the Flag Wave on the Moon?
Published on 13 Aug 2006 at 1:00 am.
150 Comments.
Filed under moon, space exploration.
People often ask me, “How can the flag on the Moon wave if there is no air?” Well, that would be a good question, if the flag actually waved on the Moon. People see the image shown here, and it looks like the astronaut is standing beside a flag that is standing out […]
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Where is the Moon?
Published on 9 Aug 2006 at 12:01 pm.
1 Comment.
Filed under moon, skywatching.
Go out and look for the Moon. If you go out tonight (August 9), you’ll probably find it (unless buildings, trees, or clouds are in the way!). But, If you wait for a week, when you go out to look for the Moon, you’ll have to wait until after midnight for it to […]
The Moon at Apogee
Published on 29 Jul 2006 at 8:30 pm.
3 Comments.
Filed under moon.
The Moon is at apogee today. For those of you not familiar with astrolingo, that means that the Moon is as far as it is going to get from Earth today, and will start moving closer. The Moon’s orbit is elliptical. The actual astronomical term is eccentric. It takes the Moon about 27.3 days to […]
See any werewolves, lately?
Published on 12 Jun 2006 at 4:56 pm.
14 Comments.
Filed under moon, sky lore.
Actually, I’ve never seen any werewolves, nor vampires for that matter, even though I keep similar hours. My theory is that lots of coffee keeps them away. Surely, the fact that they don’t really exist has nothing to do with my not seeing them!
Yesterday was Full Moon, and so I thought that I might say […]
