A glimpse into China's readiness to handle samples from the moon reveals steps to be taken for storage, processing and preparation of the specimens.
China's Chang'e 5 robotic moon mission is scheduled to launch later this year. That venture represents the third phase of China's Chang'e lunar exploration program : returning samples from the moon.
The reported candidate landing region for Chang'e 5 is the Rümker region, located in the northern Oceanus Procellarum ("Ocean of Storms"). The area is geologically complex and known for its volcanic activity.
In case you are keeping track:
How to take epic moon photos - CNET
Everyone's had that feeling. Looking up at a moon that looks like it can't be real. You take your phone out and snap a photo. And it just looks like a little blob. That's because moon photography is hard.
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If your moonrise allows it, you should try to snap a photo of the moon as early in the day as you can, especially if you only have a phone. Despite the quick evolution of phone cameras over the last few years, they still struggle with contrast as high a bright moon and a dark sky. Use the twilight to your advantage and take some of the load off of the phone.
Squashed by the moon, early Earth may have looked like a potato
About 4.5 billion years ago, a cataclysmic impact created the moon out of rubble from a barely formed Earth. Back then, the planet was a rather humdrum place, many geoscientists have assumed, with lava occasionally oozing across a global expanse of crust, and the formation of the planet's more complex geological features still a long way off.
But according to a new model, the young moon was zipping around so closely to Earth at that time that it had a profoundly strange effect on our embryonic home.
The Air Force Wants To Monitor Moon Traffic | Lunar Intelligence
The U.S. Air Force keeps track of much of the world’s air space and thousands of objects in orbit around the Earth. Now it’s seeking to expand its surveillance domain to cislunar space—the space between the Earth and the moon. The service says the increasing number of space missions by various countries and even private corporations makes this an important field, but it likely wants to keep an eye on countries such as China and Russia as well.
One development is the “space cockpit,” a workstation that uses 3D graphics and video-game-like controls to analyze and present data about objects in cislunar space. The vast distances of space and the ability of objects to operate in separate planes makes 3D especially useful for communicating location data. The space cockpit is a derivative of a similar system used to move, navigate, and repair actual satellites.
Many things are taking place:
Op-ed | A U.S. return to the moon is about preserving the rule of law - SpaceNews.com
A Feb. 17 op-ed by Giulo Prisco takes the contrary view that a return to the moon would confer many advantages. He also recognizes the geopolitical implications for the U.S. if China were to establish a presence before the United States.
He also recognizes the geopolitical implications for the U.S. if China were to establish a presence before the United States. Yet, Mr. Prisco goes further to note such an event would not be disagreeable so long as one state took the initiative to establish a permanent human presence (i.e., the end justify the means or, in this case, the who). Both op-eds posit opposite viewpoints and comment on the geopolitical aspect of the failure, or a potential failure, of a U.S. return to the moon.
Spacewatch: IM-1 mission takes aim at moon's Ocean of Storms | Science | The Guardian
The Far Side of the Moon May Someday Have Its Own Telescope, Thanks to NASA Funding | Smart
Positioned with a clear shot of the cosmos, this observatory could collect ultra-long, low-frequency wavelengths—some of the faintest and most difficult-to-detect signals reverberating through space. According to Gizmodo ’s George Dvorsky, some of these elusive wavelengths are left over from the universe’s earliest days , stretching back many billions of years, and could give researchers a glimpse into the birth of the cosmos.
Earthbound telescopes have so far struggled to home in on these mysterious signals, which get drowned out by human-made radio transmissions. Long wavelengths, especially those above 10 meters (33 feet) in length, also have a tough time penetrating our planet’s thick atmosphere, Yasemin Saplakoglu reports for Space.com . Even telescopes aboard Earth-orbiting satellites sometimes struggle to acquire data amidst the din.
NASA to build massive telescope on far side of the moon | Fox News
Since the far side of the moon always faces away from Earth, any radio transmissions that humans send out never reach this part of the lunar landscape.
In a proposal , Saptarshi Bandyopadhyay, a robotics technologist with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, writes that the ultra-long-wavelength radio telescope would be called the Lunar Crater Radio Telescope (LCRT) and would have "tremendous" advantages compared to telescopes on our planet.
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NASA's Innovative Advanced Concepts Program is awarding $125,000 for a Phase 1 study to understand the feasibility of such a telescope, Bandyopadhyay explained to Vice. This early-stage effort aims to explore advanced, far-future technologies.
Happening on Twitter
China wants a piece of the moon. Here's how it plans to handle lunar samples. https://t.co/5LrgtLBff8 https://t.co/BFxA1LgIoP SPACEdotcom (from NYC) Sat Apr 18 15:15:34 +0000 2020
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