lunar surface

10 Stories

The Lunar Rush Is On, With Plans to Mine Helium-3
Rare Gas Sets Off
a Lunar Rush

Rare Gas Sets Off a Lunar Rush

Startup Interlune plans to mine the moon for helium-3, estimated to be worth $4 billion per ton

(Newser) - Like many private companies, Interlune is seeing dollar signs in the night sky—and now its plans to extract a rare gas from the moon has a timeline. Per Ars Technica , there's an abundance of helium-3 that can hypothetically be extracted from the moon and transported back home, and...

Railroad on the Moon? It May Be in the Works

Northrop Grumman enlisted to explore construction, costs, and risks

(Newser) - Now that scientists have some ideas about how to build roads on the moon , focus is turning to a potential lunar railroad. The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) envisions a future in which a network of rails covers the lunar surface, transporting humans, resources, and supplies from one...

'After Several Tense Days,' Moon Lander Is Alive Again

Following a rough landing, Japan's SLIM finally draws enough solar power to function once more

(Newser) - A Japanese moon explorer is up and running Monday after several tense days without the sunlight it needs to generate power. Japan's first lunar mission hit its target in a precision touchdown on Jan. 20, but it landed the wrong way up , leaving its solar panels unable to see...

This Is How Roads Could Be Built on the Moon
This Is How Roads Could
Be Built on the Moon
NEW STUDY

This Is How Roads Could Be Built on the Moon

Researchers suggest manipulating solar rays to melt moon dust into smooth 'tiles'

(Newser) - Building roads on the moon will not be like building roads on Earth. Since the moon has no atmosphere and lower gravity compared to our planet, dust is a big problem. It gets everywhere, "erodes space suits, clogs machinery, interferes with scientific instruments and makes moving around difficult,"...

Moonquakes Traced to a Human-Made Source
Moonquakes
Traced to a
Human-Made
Source
NEW STUDY

Moonquakes Traced to a Human-Made Source

Apollo 17 lunar module base 'starts popping off' every lunar morning as it warms, researchers find

(Newser) - Sensors placed on the lunar surface during the Apollo 17 mission listened for vibrations over a period of several months and helped establish four types of moonquakes: those triggered by meteorite impacts; shallow quakes, possibly triggered by shrinkage due to a cooling interior ; deep quakes, tidal in origin ; and thermal...

Gas May Hide in 50-Year-Old Moon Sample

Sample 73001, vacuum-sealed in 1972, is now being opened

(Newser) - The last time astronauts set foot on the moon, in 1972, they hammered two 1.5-by-14-inch tubes into the lunar surface, which were then retrieved along with the soil inside. Sample 73002 was brought back to Earth in an unsealed container, which was opened in 2019. But sample 73001 was...

4 Things Armstrong and Aldrin Left Behind

Some of it is nice (messages of hope!), some not so much (human waste)

(Newser) - When Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin departed the moon, they left more than 100 things behind. In honor of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing this weekend, Florida Today has a list of seven of the most interesting. A sampling:
  • Tributes: A patch from the Apollo 1
...

NASA Saved Moon Samples for Just This Moment

Samples from final 3 Apollo missions will be studied for the first time

(Newser) - They've never been exposed to Earth's atmosphere, and for nearly five decades, they've sat untouched in storage. Now, NASA will study lunar samples collected during the Apollo 15, 16, and 17 missions for the first time, the agency announced Monday. The samples from the final three Apollo...

Moon Struck by 'Extraordinary' Asteroid Blast

Spanish astronomer spotted the dramatic strike last year

(Newser) - A car-sized asteroid smashed into the moon last year and left the longest-ever afterglow for a lunar impact ever seen—one big enough to be spotted by the naked eye under good viewing conditions, a Spanish astronomer said Monday. Jose Maria Madiedo said he witnessed the blast while working two...

Online Volunteers Should Scour Moon for Alien Signs: Experts

Scientists hope online sleuths may uncover ET technology, mining on HD photos

(Newser) - Some astronomers are seeking to mobilize an army of volunteers to scan online photos of the lunar surface to search for any evidence of ancient alien civilizations. Online cosmic sleuths could scour hundreds of thousands of photos of the moon for any evidence of alien technology, mining and rubbish heaps,...

10 Stories
Most Read on Newser