Posts Tagged ‘Moon’
Mysterious Lunar Base Hole Explained [Space]
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News, Technology on January 1st, 2010
"We discovered a vertical hole on the moon," says JAXA's Junichi Haruyama. A mysterious tube so large and deep that it can shelter a future moon base. Until the creatures inside kill everyone, which is what happens in these cases.
Before, they didn't know what the hole's origin was. Now they have a theory: According to a study published in Geophysical Research Letters, the vertical cave—"213 feet (65 meters) across and some 262 to 289 feet deep (80-88 meters)"—may be a collapsed lava tube, which could provide a perfect shelter for a future moon base:
Lava tubes, underground cave-like channels through which lava once flowed, are commonly found on Earth. Because lava tubes are sheltered from the harsh environment on the moon's surface, such tubes could one day be useful for lunar bases.
Their theory is that the flowing lava left the tunnel a long time ago, with a lava roof that later collapsed.
I'm reading their report and only two things come to my mind. One, the awesome lunar base in Stanley Kubrick's 2001. Two, a sci-fi horror movie flick directed by Roger Corman, in which the moon base is invaded by slimy aliens, pissed off because the humans built their base on top of the entrance of their hidden colony. Based on real events, of course.
OK, maybe I have three things in mind, because now I can see Sybil Danning there too, as the queen in "Amazon Women on the Moon." No hole connection there, though. Or maybe there is. I don't know. Whatever. Leave me alone. I'm drunk.
[Space]
This New Years Eve Brings the Rarest Blue Moon of All [Space]
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News, Technology on December 28th, 2009
Magical things happen once upon a blue Moon. And this Thursday we get a chance to find out just what those magical things as we watch the rare lunar event coincide with all the beautiful fireworks of New Years Eve.
Blue Moon is the term applied to the second full Moon in a calendar month. It's an event that occurs roughly every two and a half years. This Thursday's blue Moon is far rarer than that though, because it's happening right on New Years Eve—a coincidence that happens only about once in every twenty years.
So, between sharing New Years kisses this year, take a look at the Moon, because she'll be at her most beautiful. [Homer Tribune]
The Moon, In Technicolor [Image Cache]
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News, Technology on December 9th, 2009
This recently released NASA photo shows the Moon colorized. This combination of 18 individual shots was taken by Galileo through a green filter, augmenting the true gray color to resemble moldy cheese . Wallpaper size at NASA. [NASA]
NASA’s New Altair Lunar Lander Simulation [Nasa]
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News on November 30th, 2009
The Constellation program may be in trouble, but that doesn’t mean NASA’s boffins are sitting around playing Asteroids, and flying rocket models. They are still planning to get back to the Moon, and they built a cool simulator for it:
This is the Altair moon lander simulator, the newest, most exciting toy for astronauts planning to go to the Moon and beyond. It’s also one of the most difficult arcade games they can play, requiring landings within 10 feet of the target coordinates.
Built on the Vertical Motion Simulator at the NASA Ames Research Center, the sim has an internal layout similar to the real Altair’s, which itself is very similar to the old Apollo Lunar Module. As the LM, astronauts have stand up looking down small windows. Unlike the LM, however, most controls seem to be placed in touchscreens. I don’t know about the astronauts, but I like the old school buttons and switches in the Lunar Module a lot better. [CNET via Hyperbola]
Toyota Partner Robots heading to the moon, offworld colonies inevitable
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News on November 22nd, 2009
Continue reading Toyota Partner Robots heading to the moon, offworld colonies inevitable
Toyota Partner Robots heading to the moon, offworld colonies inevitable originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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GetRobo | Email this | Comments New Apollo 17 Landing Photo Clearly Shows Lander, Flag [Moon Landing]
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News on October 31st, 2009
It's blurrier than old MySpace snapshots, but it's there as expected. The Apollo Lunar Modules and the US flag left behind at the Apollo 17 landing site has been caught in a close-up image by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.
The lander as well as the flag, or rather the remaining flag pole, seen in the image above are exactly where they should be based on this shot by the Ascent Module "right after Apollo 17 lifted off the Moon":
Going a step further, the location can be compared to more recent images of the landing site and everything still jives up. So, can we now finally quiet down with the moon landing conspiracies and focus on figuring out how to colonize the tubes up there? Pretty please? [SESE via Discover]
Newly Discovered Hole On Moon Leads To Network Of Tubes [Space]
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News on October 24th, 2009
Images have revealed a hole on the Moon's surface that is at least 260 feet deep and may lead to an underground tunnel more than 1,200 feet wide which is part of an entire network of such winding tubes.
Scientists are hoping for clearer shots from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, but the impression so far is that such a tunnel network could provide shelter for astronauts or potential future Moon colonists. I just plain wonder if they could combine it with the recent discovery of water for one kickass underground waterpark. [New Scientist via Pop Sci]
Panel to Obama: Tell NASA to Skip the Moon and Head to Mars [Space]
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News on October 23rd, 2009
A independent commission has advised the White House to have NASA ditch plans to go back to the moon, setting its sights on Mars and beyond instead. I can get behind these suggestions.
The committee outlines eight options. Three of those involve a "flexible path" to explore someplace other than the moon, eventually heading to a Mars landing far in the future. The flexible path suggests no-landing flights around the moon and Mars.
Landing on the moon and then launching back to Earth would require a lot of fuel because of the moon's gravity. Hauling fuel from Earth to the moon and then back costs money.
It would take less fuel to land and return from asteroids or comets that swing by Earth or even the Martian moons, Phobos and Deimos, Augustine said.
Eventually, Augustine said NASA could return to the moon, but as a training stepping stone, not a major destination, as the Bush plan envisioned.
Really, we've been to the moon. It's old news. We're pretty positive there are no aliens there. Any possibility of life in our solar system exists further out, possibly on liquidy moons of the gaseous giants. So why waste time and money on the moon? Let's go to where the real action is. [USA Today via Dvice]
NASA Moon Bombing Mission May Have Worked Out After All [Space]
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News on October 18th, 2009
So that anticlimactic moon bombing NASA attempted the other day may have kicked up a little dust after all.
Indeed, Earth and space-based telescopes couldn't see it at the time, but there was, in fact, a dusty plume that got kicked up by the kamikaze LCROSS probe. Success!
That said, there's still no word on whether or not water or aliens or cheese were present in the plume. Perhaps it was a combination of all three, and that's the reason for NASA's silence thus far (more seriously, NASA says results by "mid-November").
Next time, just to be sure, I think NASA should shoot something a bit bigger into the Moon for better results. Something like, say, Richard Heene's ego. [New Scientist]
NASA LCROSS moon impact in T-minus 15, water discovery expected in T-minus 19 (update: video!)
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News on October 9th, 2009
Update: Impact occurred... are we still here? Data is now being analyzed and NASA is expected to know the facts in about an hour. Post-impact news conference scheduled for 10:00 AM EDT.
Update 2: Video added after the break showing the final minutes before impact. The highlight seems to be the denied high-5 at 5:00 minutes in.
NASA LCROSS moon impact in T-minus 15, water discovery expected in T-minus 19 (update: video!) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Oct 2009 07:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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