Two new studies indocate that there are “cold traps” on the moon full of water. NASA spied on Luna from a high-flying jet named SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy) and found the unique signature of water all over the place on sunlit portions of the moon. A secord study finds that frozen water could be hiding in lunar shadows on 15,444 square miles of the moon’s real estate. Astronauts are probably planning lakeside chateaus as you read this.
The moon looks bigger when it’s on the horizon. Why? A New York Times video.
Related:
“What Is a Supermoon?” Elizabeth Howell, Space.com
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If you think disgraced former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich was upset over Russia threatening Ukraine, just wait. Vladimir Putin is about to crush the failed Republican presidential hopeful’s other dream. Russia plans to colonize the Moon, ending Newt’s lifetime quest to become lunar colony governor.
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Image (“Goodnight Newt, after Clement Hurd”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
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The mechanical controls of China’s Jade Rabbit lunar rover got fried, and the poor little thing probably froze to death during the Moon’s cold night. Think your “Polar Vortex” is cold? Overnight lows on the Moon can go down to -180C (-292F).
The Jade Rabbit (Yutu in Chinese) is named for the mythical pet bunny companion of the Moon Goddess Chang’e, for whom the mission’s lunar lander is named. During its final moments Yutu bade a touching if long-winded farewell, reported by the Xinhua news service. Excerpts:
Moon phases of 2014.
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center explains it all here.
Related:
Moonrise, moonset and moonphase finder.
“Sneak-Peek: Top 5 Sky Events of 2014,” Andrew Fazekas, StarStruck
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China has landed a lunar probe on the Moon, the first lunar soft landing since 1976. The Chang’e-3 lunar probe’s robot rover is called the Jade Rabbit, and it will explore the Bay of Rainbows. In Chinese myth, Chang’e is the Moon Goddess, and the Jade Rabbit (Yu Tu) is her pet. The China National Space Administration plans to land non-mythical personalities on the Moon by 2020 and set up a moon base in 2030.
The China National Space Administration successfully launched a rocket to the Moon yesterday. The Long March-3B rocket blasted off from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province carrying the Chang’e-3 lunar probe and its lunar rover for unmanned exploration of the Moon’s surface. It also carries a heavy symbolic load, explains Elizabeth Barber:
“This morning’s mission has, like most Chinese missions to space, been heavily tapestried in tropes that stitch together the patriotic and the mythical. The lander and its rover are named after a Chinese myth in which a woman, Chang’e, swallows magic pills that transport her and her pet rabbit, ‘Yu Tu’ (Jade Rabbit), to the moon. There she remains, white rabbit at her side, as goddess of the moon. Xinhua [news service] called the mission ‘a modern scientific version’ of the myth.”
— “In one big step for China, ‘Jade Rabbit’ heads to the moon,” Elizabeth Barber, Christian Science Monitor
And where will the new Jade Rabbit roam? The Bay of Rainbows, naturally.
Update:
“China’s Maiden Moon Rover Mission Chang’e 3 Achieves Lunar Orbit,” Ken Kreme, Universe Today
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This weekend is the 44th anniversary of the first Moonwalk. The one by Neil Armstrong, not Michael Jackson. The future is not what is used to be.
Despite winning a phenomenal total of two entire state primaries, disgraced former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich has suspended his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. No word if he will resume his quest to become lunar colony governor.
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Image (“Moon over Miami, after Clement Hurd”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
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We are now on the final 48-hour countdown to Blast-Off in the Florida Republican Primary. Space Commander Newton Leroy Gingrich hopes to go where no man has gone before, from congressional disgrace to the White House. Mitt Romney hopes this will be Newt’s Final Frontier.
We hope to hear from Mission Control after the Florida polls close Tuesday at 7:00 PM.
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