29 June 2009: Why returning to the Moon, not Mars, should be the first step

29 June 2009: Three space exploration experts - Paul Spudis, Dennis Wingo and Gordon Woodcock - have written a long missive on reasons for returning to the Moon over Mars. The missive tackles nearly all the current problems facing NASA's 'Vision For Space Exploration', and re-crafts suggestions into it that will hopefully gain acceptance with the public as well as those in the US Congress. Several areas of interest are covered that include: (1) Construction and maintenance of a spaceport on the lunar surface; (2) Using the moon's natural resources - minerals, metals and potential water deposits - as means for energy and survival requirements in human settlement there; (3) How these resources may aid as cheaper options in getting to the Moon from Earth in the future - using the existing infrastructure to create reusable rockets, that in turn leads to a lesser need for heavy-lift ones for launching large ground-integrated systems from Earth to the Moon. (4) And how all this will lead to a cheaper but more efficient way in the long run, which when set up finally will then be used for further exploration of other planets, like Mars, and beyond. There's a lot more in the missive that can't be written here, however, if you'd like to read more, then please go HERE. If you need to contact me about this article, then please do Email me a comment, or, if you like, support this site, which is run totally unfunded. Top

24 June 2009: Apollo Astronaut, Buzz Aldrin, suggests a better way to the Moon

24 June 2009: Astronaut, Buzz Adrin, who walked on the Moon some forty years ago during the Apollo 11 mission, is suggesting some major changes in the current NASA structure. First off, Buzz suggests scraping the current Ares I rocket - currently having serious design problems - and instead stretch out the six remaining shuttle flights to 2015 - one per year. In place of the Ares I he suggests to use a more reliable rocket like the Delta IV Heavy or the Atlas V satellite launchers that would be upgraded to Orion status for getting man back to the Moon. Second off, stop the current space race that has developed (directly or indirectly) between China and America. A go-it-alone path to the Moon isn't the way to go according to Buzz, so with US participating, let international partners like China, Europe, Russia, India and Japan get involved more together in terms of  planning, technical development and funding. Third-off, if the Moon doesn't turn out to be commercially viable with potential resources of minerals deposits, Helium-3...etc., then "kill the program", he suggests, and "aim higher than a place we've already set foot on six times". There's a whole lot more to his plans for future and further exploration to the Moon and beyond, so do check out his Popular Mechanics article appearing online here. By the way, Buzz isn't a man to be messed with, as he seems to be a guy that has a good punch (YouTube vid). Image of Buzz above - Credit Platon. If you need to contact me about this article, then please do Email me a comment, or, if you like, support this site, which is run totally unfunded. Top

23 June 2009: LRO/LCROSS spacecraft mission reaches Moon

23 June 2009: After initial launch on the 18 June 2009 (see below), NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) mission today entered orbit around the Moon. Over the next few days further adjustments with rocket firings will eventually put the craft into a commissioning-phase orbit - a 60-day-long period used for calibrations and tests of instruments onboard. After this period, it will then be manoeuvred into its final orbit around the Moon bringing it's altitude close to some 50 kilometres above the surface in preparation for its mapping objectives. Meanwhile, the Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) which separated from LRO two hours after launch made its first swingby of the Moon that brought it as close as 3200 kilometres from the surface. This gravity-assist swingby puts LCROSS into its cruise Lunar Gravity Assist Lunar Return Orbit (LGALRO), where sometime in October 2009 it will then line up for two impacts onto the lunar surface. For more on orbital events see here, and an introductory YouTube video here (Part 1 is very good, Part 2 okay). If you need to contact me about this article, then please do Email me a comment, or, if you like, support this site, which is run totally unfunded. Top

23 June 2009: NATURE on the Moon

23 June 2009: To mark the fortieth anniversary of the first Lunar landing of Apollo 11 on the 20 July 1969, the science publication, NATURE, have launched a free on-line special issue. Rather than talk about it more, why not have a look for yourself - just start here. If you need to contact me about this article, then please do Email me a comment, or, if you like, support this site, which is run totally unfunded. Top

18 June 2009: USA returns to the Moon - LRO/LCROSS launched today

18 June 2009: NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) along with its companion spacecraft, Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS), successfully launched today from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The dual-based mission is America's return to the Moon in forty years, which next month marks the historic Apollo 11 mission that landed two men on the lunar surface on 20 July 1969. LRO/LCROSS has a suite of instruments onboard - each with several different objectives in mind. For example: LOLA (Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter) will determine the global topography of the Moon - investigating landing site slopes, surface roughness, and possible polar surface ice in shadowed regions; LROC (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera) will acquire targeted narrow angle images of the surface, and resolve meter-scale features to support future landing site selections (several cameras on the mission will return unprecedented images of the lunar surface - accurately mapping the Moon globally through high resolution imaging down to 0.5 m per pixel and low resolution made at 100 m per pixel - see LRO/LCROSS target sites here); LEND (Lunar Exploration Neutron Detector) will provide global mapping of hydrogen content on the lunar surface (the IBEX mission recently observed the stream of neutral hydrogen atoms caused by the solar wind scattering off the moon's surface), as well as characterise neutron components of the lunar radiation environment; DLRE or DIVINER (Diviner Lunar Radiometer Experiment) will measure lunar surface temperature profiles for habitability, map variants in silicate mineralogy and chart the temperature of the entire lunar surface to identify cold traps and potential ice deposits; LAMP (Lyman-Alpha Mapping Project) will map the entire lunar surface in the far ultraviolet, providing images of permanently shadowed regions illuminated only by starlight (it will also search for surface ice and frost in the polar regions); and CRaTER (Cosmic Ray Telescope for the Effects of Radiation) will investigate the effects of galactic cosmic rays and solar energetic particles on tissue-equivalent plastics (measurements will characterize the deep space radiation environment and provide a baseline to the amount of radiation humans could be exposed to). One of the main highlights in the mission will be to crash two probes onto the surface in search of water deposits. These probes basically consist the makeup of LCROSS itself - the first being an upper stage rocket, called Centaur, and the second a Shepherding Spacecraft, called the S-S/C. As both approach the moon's South Pole region, Centaur will first decouple from the S-S/C for line-up of impact into a crater (possibly, Shackleton), and then the S-S/C will fly through the plume of disturbed material for analyses in any signs of water and other compounds released. Approximately fifteen minutes later the S-S/C itself will then line up for impact also into another nearby crater (possibly, Cabaeus, Faustini or Shoemaker) - releasing a second plume of material 2 million tonnes in quantity. Telescopes on Earth - both professional and amateur - will try to observe the events, but the LRO orbiting overhead and possibly other orbiting space telescopes like Hubble will have the best views. A new topographic map released today by JPL revealing areas unseen at the South Pole region may aid in the target water-points that LCROSS may strike. Such water-ice resources will prove extremely important in the development of a lunar base. Colonists will need water to grow food, produce rocket fuel (from the hydrogen in H2O), and build up oxygen reserves for breathing. Two previous missions, Clementine and Lunar Prospector, detected water ice signatures back in the 1990s but analyses of the data has been a controversial issue since then. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is the first of many robotic missions NASA will use to study the Moon under its “Vision for Space Exploration”. Costing approximately $616m (2007 quote) in total for both LRO and LCROSS, the mission is expected to last up to 14 months initially, however, depending on the condition of the spacecraft and finances available, its lifetime could be extended up to four years. If you need to contact me about this article, then please do Email me a comment, or, if you like, support this site, which is run totally unfunded. Top

10 June 2009: Japanese Moon mission makes an impact

10 June 2009: Just about everyone on the planet now knows that the Japanese spacecraft, Kaguya (Selene), launched two years ago to the Moon  has crashed on the lunar surface. The impact is reported to have occurred at 3.25 am JST (Japan Standard Time -11 June) in an area of the Moon's south-east (rough coordinates given are 80.4E, 65.5S). Some observations of a flash are being reported, but these have as yet to be confirmed. For more information see Chuck Wood's 'Kaguya Special' here. If you need to contact me about this article, then please do Email me a comment, or, if you like, support this site, which is run totally unfunded. Top

10 June 2009: LOIRP releases another series of Moon images

10 June 2009: LOIRP (Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project) in their quest to recover Lunar Orbiter images taken during missions from 1966 to 1967 have released another series of images. The first includes a Lunar Orbiter III oblique view of Oceanus Procellarum - a huge mare region on the eastern side of the Moon, the second relates to the impact site of the Ranger 8 spacecraft which struck the Moon on the 20 February 1965 in Tranquillitatis - another mare region on the western side of the Moon, and the third relates to the landing site of Apollo 14. On June 15 2009, LOIRP also released images of the Apollo 12/Surveyor III landing site, and on the 14 June 2009 an image of the South Pole region was released. For an update on future images, see Moon Views. The images are just some of those taken amongst the ~1000 pairs of medium (MR) and high resolution (HR) images produced during the Lunar Orbiter Program. Back then, they were produced with two types of 70-mm black and white cameras onboard each orbiter - the MR camera having a short focal length with a wide field of view, while the HR camera had a long focal length with a narrow field of view. All processing of the images were done onboard the crafts, that is, negatives were developed, then scanned and transmitted to photographic and magnetic tape recorders back on Earth through the Deep Space Network operated by JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory). The images were then transferred onto 35-mm film in the lab and turned into film segments, called a framelet (about 60cm long), and from these a full reconstruction of a single frame of each image was produced. Some of the images taken were extremely difficult to see any clear detail as scanning in between framelets produced a bright line to run across each subframe. As a result, this produced images with brightness variations and streaking defects. These defects, however, were somewhat cleared up later as photographic techniques developed in the intervening years, however, today more modern techniques are tackling the problem. LOIRP is based at NASA's Ames Research Centre, and is undertaking the task of translating original Lunar Orbiter analog data from 1,500 tapes into digitalised format. For more information see here. If you need to contact me about this article, then please do Email me a comment, or, if you like, support this site, which is run totally unfunded. Top

9 June 2009: Kaguya (SELENE) crash on the Moon

9 June 2009: Tomorrow is a big day for Japan because that's the day when their current orbiting spacecraft, Kaguya (SELENE), launched two years ago will end its life with a bang. The crash is intentional, and will occur in a dark region on the Moon northeast of Gill crater situated on its south-eastern edge as viewed by an observer on Earth. Official news from the Japan Space Agency, JAXA, says impact will occur around 18.30 UT at coordinates 63S, 80E, however, this could change as the orbiter gets closer and closer to the surface. Factors like gravity anomalies (or gravity disturbances) produced from a difference in rock density underneath the moon's surface could cause Kaguya to veer slightly from its intended impact site, or, an unexpected mountain peak could end the mission sooner than expected. Observers situated more easterly and southerly from India to Japan (Australia, New Zealand...etc.,) are the only ones who will have the opportunity to record any plume of material ejected from the surface. Amateurs with good-sized telescopes should be able to see the event if all goes according to plan - giving them some kind of advantage over the professional telescopes. Who will be the first to get in a good shot? Could it be YOU? If you need to contact me about this article, then please do Email me a comment, or, if you like, support this site, which is run totally unfunded. Top

4 June 2009: Will NASA budget cuts affect lunar exploration?

4 June 2009: The USA's House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science & Related Agencies will see NASA's exploration budget in FY 2010 reduce by as mush as $212.3 million. In FY 2009, NASA's exploration budget came in at $3505.3 million, but for next year that now is going to be $3293.2 million. Congressman and Chairman of the Subcommittee, Alan Mollohan, said: "It is a pause, a time-out, to allow the President to establish his vision for human space exploration and to commit to realistic future funding levels to realize this vision." If the above budget cuts, and potential future budget cuts, is anything to go by, the whole lunar program could suffer a delay setback. Already, a blue ribbon panel appointed some weeks ago is currently reviewing the vision for human spaceflight, and the recommendations on this, when reported, could have serious constraints for returning Man to the Moon by 2020. Is this 'pause' and 'time out' a no-confidence vote in NASA's exploration path, or is it really a vote in defining the role the agency should go in the future? NASA has created a Web site for the Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee as a way of inviting the public to submit their views, so YOU decide! See more on Mollohan's statement here and on NASA's FY 2010 budget summary here. If you need to contact me about this article, then please do Email me a comment, or, if you like, support this site, which is run totally unfunded. Top

1 June 2009: NASA and ISRO looking to collaborate in Moon research

1 June 2009: As the NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) prepares for launch within the next few weeks, India's Chandrayaan 1 lunar spacecraft currently orbiting the Moon may work alongside with it in a near future research collaboration. The research will involve  the two orbiters looking for signs of water-ice signatures at both poles of the Moon. It has long been suggested that such deposits may lie closely under the surface at the pole positions where portions of some craters remain forever in darkness. Three instruments onboard LRO are capable of looking for water-ice signatures, while on Chandrayaan 1 there already is a NASA-built instrument called the Miniature Synthetic Aperture Radar (MSAR). Each instrument can look at different aspects of possible signatures at the pole regions, and all data will then be collected and shared collaboratively. Two previous missions, Clementine and Lunar Prospector, detected water ice signatures back in the 1990s but analyses of the data have been a controversial issue since then. Talks between the two space agencies are now undergoing, and expectation of the collaborative announcement is due out soon. If you need to contact me about this article, then please do Email me a comment, or, if you like, support this site, which is run totally unfunded. Top

21 May 2009: Kaguya crash date on Moon

21 May 2009: The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has announced the expected date and impact point of the Kaguya spacecraft currently orbiting the Moon. The date is 10 June 2009, and the impact point will be on the nearside of the Moon close to a south-eastern crater called Gill (Lat 63.9S, Long 75.9E). The Moon will be some 16 to 18 days old at time of impact, showing a waning gibbous Moon (looking up at the Moon in the sky one would see a nearly full-ish Moon but a sliver of it's right-hand side would be in darkness). At time of expected impact, Gill will lie in this dark sliver region, so when impact occurs good-sized amateur and professional telescopes observing the event may have opportunity to observe a plume of lunar dust ejected off the surface. The time of impact is given as 18:30 GMT, so observers at mid latitudes in Eastern countries from India to Japan should be suitably placed to take any recordings (unfortunately observers situated in the USA or Europe will not see the event as daylight will interfere). Countries such as Dubai to Karachi will see the Moon low on the horizon, while others like Bangalore to Lhasa to Tokyo and Hong Kong will have the best views. Of course, the date, time and location of impact is subject to change over the coming weeks, so please do check into the JAXA website for updates. If you need to contact me about this article, then please do Email me a comment, or, if you like, support this site, which is run totally unfunded. Top

18 May 2009: Pieces of Moon head for Everest

18 May 2009: Remember back in the 60s and 70s when Moon rocks were all the rage - for geologists anyway, well, they are about to be highlighted again because this time they heading back into space. Not actual space, but the furthest reaches of terrestrial space - this time to Chomolungma, or Mount Everest to you and me. Climber, Scott Parazynski, who secured the samples from NASA several months ago and currently attempting his first summit on Everest, is carrying 0.052 grams of the rocks encapsulated within a clear acrylic "button". The samples were initially collected by Neil Armstrong in July 1969 during the Apollo 11 mission which landed on a lava mare known as the Sea of tranquility. The samples came from some several metres away from the main Lunar Module "Eagle", and Parazynski hopes to get them to the top of Everest in time to celebrate and honour the upcoming 40th Anniversary of the historic landing on the Moon. Parazynski himself is a former astronaut who flew five times on the space shuttle and performed seven spacewalks while helping out at the International Space Station. He retired from the astronaut corps back in March and ever since he set out on the Everest trip, his activities have been reported and monitored using a special SPOT device. The device enables Internet users to track his steps in real time. Two other members in his team - Keith Cowing (located at Everest Base Camp), and Miles O'Brien (located in New York City) - are all members of the Board of Directors of the Challenger Center - established by family members of the crew of STS-51L shortly after the shuttle accident in 1986. The centers were created by the directors as an immersive, stimulating learning environment for middle school students who role play simulated space missions. This is certainly one to watch as Parazynski makes his final attempt, so if you'd like to follow his progress do check on him HERE. UPDATE: Parazynski successfully reached the summit of Mount Everest on 20 May 2009 at 3.55 am local time - a big congratulations to him. If you need to contact me about this article, then please do Email me a comment, or, if you like, support this site, which is run totally unfunded. Top

15 May 2009: Launch delay for LRO/LCROSS

15 May 2009: NASA has just announced that launch of the LRO/LCROSS mission to the Moon planned for 2 June will now launch within a four-window close on 17 June. The delay isn't sue to any un-necessary problems that have arisen but simply down to engineers wanting to carry out final analysis between the Atlas 5 rocket's upper stage and the impactor spacecraft payload. The extra time allocated will also give the engineers a look into potential thrust disturbances on the LCROSS impactor associated with fill and drain valves on the rocket's Centaur upper stage. If you need to contact me about this article, then please do Email me a comment, or, if you like, support this site, which is run totally unfunded. Top

14 May 2009: New Moon-Mars rover commissioned

14 May 2009: Both the European Space Agency (ESA) and Alenia Space Italy (TAS-I) have commissioned GMV to build a prototype, all-terrain rover for use on the Moon and Mars. Called the EGP (Eurobot Ground Prototype), the rover will be capable of carrying upto 400 kg payloads at a time, tackle obstacles 20cm high, and climb up slopes with angles approaching 15 degrees. As it roves about on the lunar or martian surface using rear-wheel steering with 120 degrees turning, the rover can be controlled by instructions from Earth, or by voice command of an astronaut working alongside. A stereoscopic camera mounted on the rover will allow for 360-degree imaging of the surface; building up successive digital maps of the terrain it has covered over a period of time. The main task of the rover, however, will be to assist astronauts in the moving of equipment from location to location, and aid in the construction of future bases planned for the Moon and Mars. If you need to contact me about this article, then please do Email me a comment, or, if you like, support this site, which is run totally unfunded. Top

13 May 2009: LRO/LCROSS spacecrafts to the Moon on show before launch in June

13 May 2009: The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), along with with its companion Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS), are both due for launch in early June. As a precursor in build-up to the launch, NASA is putting the integrated crafts on view this Friday for the media to photograph at the Astrotech Space Operations facility in Titusville, Fla. There will be an opportunity to interview project and launch program officials at the facility, so if you are interested in covering the event, participants should proceed directly to Astrotech located in the Spaceport Florida Industrial Park, 1515 Chaffee Drive, Titusville. The gates will open at around 7.00 am - photo-ID is required and foreign journalists attending should have a media accreditation badge - available from the Kennedy Space Center). If you need to contact me about this article, then please do Email me a comment, or, if you like, support this site, which is run totally unfunded. Top

27 April 2009: Will Russia's next Moon mission be delayed?

27 April 2009: Russia's next step onto the international lunar stage is a mission known as Luna Glob. The spacecraft's objectives initially had three main objectives, firstly, set a lander down near the South Pole Aitkin Basin region to search for signs of water ice deposits, secondly and thirdly, impact two slow-descending penetrator/landers in regions near where Apollo's 11 and 12 spacecrafts landed in 1969, and 10 fast-descending penetrators somewhere near Mare Fecunditatis (Sea of Fertility) to collect data about surface seismic moonquakes. Launch of the mission was all set for 2012, however, as budget constraints and recent suggestions of changes to the spacecraft will come under intense scrutiny by the Russian government this coming May and June, is Luna Glob set for a delay? The changes mainly concern the penetrators, as it now looks like only eight in total will be used. The first four would initially be set for impact at the above Apollo sites, however, as there are two additional penetrators in this configuration, the objective may also take into account the Apollo 14 landing site at Fra Mauro. The lander would afterwards be deployed to set down somewhere near the South Pole, but as to where the other four remaining penetrators will impact eventually, the above-mentioned Fecunditatis region may be changed. Russian scientists involved with the mission say more than likely that the 2012 launch date will still go ahead despite the changes, however, space experts in the Russian media keeping an eye on the whole procedures suggest the new configurations will inevitably cause a delay. If the delay goes ahead, it may also affect other planned lunar missions that Russia has agreed to with other countries like India who together planned a cooperative lunar rover mission planned for 2012-13 launch, as well as the future Lunar Robotic Network it talked about last year with the U.S., the European Space Agency and several other countries. One to watch over the coming months. If you need to contact me about this article, then please do Email me a comment, or, if you like, support this site, which is run totally unfunded. Top

22 April 2009: New Atlas of the Moon - in 20 Maps and three view formats

22 April 2009: If you've ever wanted to know where a particular feature on the nearside surface of the Moon is, or instant information about it, then this 20-Maps's atlas might be for you. Nearly 3000 features -- from craters to mountains, rilles to domes, lacus to maria, and a whole lot more -- are indexed. The end product has been professionally printed on very high-quality paper, is wire-bound (recommended), and is available in three viewable formats: natural, inverted-mirror and mirror -- suitable for nearly all telescopes. I have worked on this for a long time, so if it's of interest please do have a peek. Who knows, it might be just what you're looking for? Thanks...John (author of this website). Top

20 April 2009: Cosmic rays, and moon dust research

20 April 2009: Two new papers accepted by Science publication, Geophysical Research Letters (GRL), will soon hit the headlines. The first paper looks at "Assessing Access of Galactic Cosmic Rays at Moon's Orbit", while the second paper looks at "Direct active measurements of movements of lunar dust: Rocket exhausts and natural effects contaminating and cleansing Apollo hardware on the Moon in 1969". (1) Cosmic rays, which are considered harmful radiation for us humans, are generated both from within our own solar system for example, by exploding stars, or from outside our own solar system by high-speed jets near black holes. Made up of high-energy particles, billions strike earth each day, however, most are deflected by our magnetic field and so we remain relatively protected. However, as the Moon doesn't have a magnetic field to speak of, the rays which strike the surface head on may present a serious problem for future astronauts and colonists. As concentration of these rays may vary throughout at distances roughly in the region of the moon's orbit , the first paper will be of utmost interest to understanding their potential risks. (2) One of the most frustrating facets of lunar exploration for astronauts during the Apollo programs was lunar dust. It stuck to everything - to the astronauts' suits, clogged up their sensitive sensors and electronics, and even got into their eyes and lungs. Each dust particle is just a few microns wide and very abrasive, and as there is no weathering process on the Moon to wear each down, their potential to affect future lunar missions and astronauts remains at very high risk. Detectors onboard the then Apollo 11, 12 and 14 landers supplied data about the dust, and these were beamed back to Earth and stored on magnetic tapes. However, during the intervening years the tapes subsequently became "misplaced" by NASA afterwards, and so all the information about lunar dust seemed lost forever. But, a new light has shone above the horizon. It now seems that the tapes have been around all along, and were in a room in Perth, Australia, for the last 40 years or so. Upto 173 tapes at the time were recorded, and only recently have they been looked at to see if the information enclosed can be retrieved. In the second paper above, 75-year-old physicist, Brian O'Brien, who had access to the tapes presents his findings. Self- funded, and working for two years alone, O'Brien has come up with some new data about the electrostatic problems with lunar dust, as well as some practical solutions as to future avoidance. Access to both papers, unfortunately, are through subscription only to GRL. If you need to contact me about this article, then please do Email me a comment, or, if you like, support this site, which is run totally unfunded. Top

11 April 2009: Sun research will look in region of Moon's original impactor

11 April 2009: Origin of the Moon is currently theorised to be the violent result of a giant asteroid, called 'Theia', that impacted the early-forming Earth. Debris created from the impact -- both of Earth and asteroid material -- coalesced together eventually to give us the Moon we have today. Theia may have been just one of billions of stray asteroids roaming around the early solar system, and may have come from any direction in space. However, two observatories (Stereo A and Stereo B) currently studying the Sun may throw light on the subject as to where it originally came from. Each observatory -- one ahead of Earth in its orbit, the other trailing behind -- are about to pass through points in space, known as Lagrangian Points. Gravitational forces and orbital motions of objects at these points usually balance out with each other, and so many remain there relatively undisturbed for billions of years. However, some objects are disturbed by external forces from the gravitational influence of planets, and this can send them hurdling outwards. Is this what happened with Theia when planets Venus or Jupiter were forming? Did their influence exert forces on it which sent the asteroid spiralling towards Earth? There are five Lagrange Points between the Earth-Moon system -- three are quasi-stable (that is, simple nudging of an object here could send it out of the points known as L1, L2 and L3), while the other two points, L4 and L5, are more stable (a nudged object here could still remain within the points). Stereo will pass through the latter two for several months -- Stereo A making its closest approach this September of L4, and Stereo B of L5 in October. The two together will look for asteroids that have similar composition of the Earth and the Moon, and if found, it could give substantial evidence to the impact theory between the Theia and Earth. As a lot of data is likely to be produced during the several months, the team of scientists involved with Stereo are asking the public to get involved. For more on this, see here. If you need to contact me about this article, then please do Email me a comment, or, if you like, support this site, which is run totally unfunded. Top

8 April 2009: Second largest crater in the Solar System -- a mystery to be solved

8 April 2009: Coming in at approximately 2500 km in diameter and lying mostly hidden on the farside of the Moon (a portion can be seen at the lunar south pole), the South Pole Aitken (SPA) basin is the oldest documented 'crater' on the lunar surface. For such a big-sized crater, one would naturally think the object that produced the initial basin struck the crust first, and then dug deep down into the moon's upper mantle -- allowing most of this type of material to entirely fill the basin afterwards. However, when one analyses the basin floor, roughly, half is made up of mantle material, and the other half of lower crustal material totally different to normal highland crustal rocks. So what is going on? Why isn't there more mantle material than lower crustal material inside the SPA? Does it have something to do with the dynamics of the initial impact (e.g. was it a high-velocity or low oblique low-velocity impact), does it have something to do with alteration of the target rock by the impactor (e.g. high concentrations of iron and magnesium-rich rocks in the SPA could be produced by the huge temperatures involved), or is it that volcanism is the cause (e.g. evidence of Potassium K, Rare Earth Elements REE and Phosphorous P inside the SPA suggest a KREEP-type volcanism event). In the April edition of Nature Geoscience, Dr Paul Spudis of the Lunar Planetary Institute looks to going "Back to the Moon" and poses some questions about the SPA. The article is free, so do check it out. If you need to contact me about this article, then please do Email me a comment, or, if you like, support this site, which is run totally unfunded. Top

1 April 2009: Asteroid hits Moon -- six-kilometre-sized crater formed

1 April 2009: "This is an extraordinary discovery!" So says Dr. April Foley of Lirpaloof Observatory in Farlipool who discovered the crater yesterday in a region of the Moon known as Palus Epidemiarum. Foley, who has been observing the lunar surface over the last two years for rare events known as TLPs (Trans Lunar Phenomena), came across the new crater by mistake. "I have been studying this particular region for awhile now and had taken several photographs, however, when I was browsing through the images for the TLP signatures, I noticed that one image looked unusually different. I immediately thought that I had caught a TLP (a bright flash believed to be produced by gas), however, on closer examination I could see it was a small crater." The surface of the Moon is hit every day by minute specs of interstellar dust that are too small to produce anything of note, but occasionally when small stray asteroids get through, the result of the impact produces a crater that can be seen from Earth-based telescopes. Judging by the direction of the ejecta driven off by the initial impact, it looks like the strike came in from a north-westerly direction. This is obvious in the image as lighter material underneath has been flung outwards in a direction away from the impact, which is thought to have been low and highly oblique. "Currently, there are two lunar space probes orbiting the Moon and another is set to launch this June", says Foley. "I do hope that they'll be able to take a closer look as events like this are somewhat rare." If you need to contact me about this article, then please do Email me a comment, or, if you like, support this site, which is run totally unfunded. Top

26 March 2009: Spring Moonwatch in the United Kingdom

26 March 2009: As part of the International Year of Astronomy the Society for Popular Astronomy (SPA) in the UK are organising a week long Moonwatch from Saturday 28 March to 5 April 2009. Observatories, science centres and astronomical societies from around the country will open up their resources to the public; the goal of which is to get as many people as possible view the Moon through a telescope. SPA chose the above period to run the event because as the Moon will remain high above the horizon for UK viewers it will allow for longer and clearer observations to be made. This is just one of three Moonwatchs that SPA will run during the year -- the other two occurring from 24 Oct to 1 Nov (Autumn Moonwatch) and 19 Nov to 29 Nov (Schools Moonwatch) respectively. If you need to contact me about this article, then please do Email me a comment, or, if you like, support this site, which is run totally unfunded. Top

23 March 2009: The 40th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference 2009

23 March 2009: Over the next five days international scientists from around the world will meet in Texas USA to discuss the many different aspects of science and research in planetary science. Covering the latest research and results over a diverse range of areas -- from petrology to geochemistry to geophysics -- the Lunar & Planetary Science Conference (LPSC) represents one of the main events in this Year of Astronomy for the lunar and planetary science community. Representatives from the US Government, academia and private industry will also attend, and the whole event is an opportunity for publishers, educational institutions and scientific societies to show off their there wares. For the lunar community attending, the discussions and presentations cover a broad spectrum of interests. On Monday, 23 March, upto thirteen scientists working in separate areas of research will each present the latest news and results under the heading "Origin and Evolution of the Early Moon" (see all thirteen PDF abstracts here). On Tuesday, results from missions like Kaguya, Chang'e 1 and Chandrayaan 1 will be discussed (Part 1 and Part 2), while on the following day participants can get to hear about impact of the South Pole Aitken (SPA) basin -- one of the largest impact basins in the Solar System. On Thursday, 26 March, the Diversity of Lunar Lithologies will be be discussed, and there's also a poster session in the town centre exhibit area on Meteoritic Samples of the Moon. Finishing off the conference on the 27 March will be a session on Planning for Future Exploration of the Moon where scientists will present the latest developments in several areas of interest, for example, there's a Progress Report on the Lunar Exploration Roadmap, a Seismic Exploration of the Moon, and a sesssion that will cover the latest scientific opportunities for Human Exploration of the Schrodinger Basin . Note, all the above-mentioned areas of research and results are just a tiny sample of lunar-related science that will be looked at over the next few days, however, if you want to see more of what's on -- see here -- the full program. If you need to contact me about this article, then please do Email me a comment, or, if you like, support this site, which is run by me totally unfunded. Top

17 March 2009: Ten space agencies -- three Moon scenarios

17 March 2009: The ten space agencies from around the world that met in Japan last week have adopted for further study three scenarios for conducting internationally coordinated robotic and human exploration activities on the Moon. The three scenarios include: (1) short duration missions and (2) extended stay missions -- both of which will be able to go to any location on the Moon, and (3) longer duration missions for up to six months at polar sites like the North Pole or most favourably the South Pole where the first lunar base may start construction by 2020. Development and placement of infrastructure systems in space and on the surface of the Moon are also included, and the space agencies also agreed on increased cooperation between all with emphasis on the exploration of locations in the Solar System where humans may someday live and work in the spirit of the Global Exploration Strategy (GES)2. If you need to contact me about this article, then please do Email me a comment, or, if you like, support this site, which is run by me totally unfunded. PS. Happy St Patrick's Day  Top

15 March 2009: On St Paddy's Day -- Why not talk about the Moon and Mars

15 March 2009: While most of us on St Patrick's Day will be celebrating all that is Irish around our world, a team of international experts will be discussing what it means for us as we look towards two other worlds -- the Moon and Mars. Hosted by the National Institute of Aerospace and NASA's Langley Research Center's Systems Analysis and Concepts Directorate, four scientists will be given a platform to talk about the Visions for Space Exploration set up by the George Bush administration a few years ago. They will debate and ask whether it is a good idea to go back to the Moon and then onto Mars, and why we as humans need and want to explore. Questions like: Is it necessary to send humans to the Moon prior to Mars?  Why? Why not? Are human Mars missions too risky and costly to be considered in the near future? Could humans be sent to explore other destinations in the solar system? What unique advantages do humans provide over purely robotic missions? Why are the Moon and Mars of scientific interest? These and other questions will undoubtedly put the four scientists -- Scott Pace, director of the Space Policy Institute; Paul D. Spudis, senior staff scientist at the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston; G. Scott Hubbard, a Stanford University professor; and Joel S. Levine, senior research scientist in the Science Directorate at NASA Langley Research Center -- on the spot. The event will begin at around 7pm at the Virginia Air and Space Center in Hampton, Virginia, and audience members are invited to submit questions in advance to Dr Douglas Stanley of the National Institute of Aerospace who will be moderating the forum. The Forum is just one in a series of distinguished lectures that started in 2006, featuring presentations by experts from academia, industry, and government on the conception, design, engineering, analysis, and operation of vehicles and systems towards exploration of our Solar System. If you need to contact me about this article, then please do Email me a comment, or, if you like, support this site, which is run by me totally unfunded.  Top

3 March 2009: Giant steps are what you take -- walking on the Moon

3 March 2009: By now, everyone on the planet will have heard of Second Life (SL) -- an online 3D digital world where players are able to walk, fly, and teleport to thousands of 3D locations. The game allows individuals to build up virtual businesses, own real-estate properties for sale or rent, and create virtual worlds limited only by the imagination. Now, a team of scientists working at the Center for Educational Technologies in West Virginia USA are going to create a virtual piece of land - an island in the SL sky -- that will simulate the surface of the Moon. Called MoonWorld, the virtual island will resemble an actual area of the Moon (a 34km-wide crater called Timocharis) where players can explore the surrounding lunarscape and environment. Future visitors will first be teleported into a lunar base at the island where they will be outfitted with a spacesuit, which will allow them to go on a series of missions to investigate how the impact crater formed and how identifying geologic features like scarps and melt can help their overall understanding. There'll also be volcanic features like lava flow-fronts, domes and rilles (~ collapsed lava tubes) to investigate, where the visitor can learn about each of their morphologies as they walk and climb around inside them. While the spacesuit will give players the experience of the reduced gravity of the Moon (~ 1/6 that of Earth's), it will also be capable of accepting numerous instrument packages from magnetometers to gravimeters to interact with the environment. There'll even be a cool jetpack that one can strap on for flying around the whole Timocharis area -- letting the viewer get a better perspective of what they are actually investigating. The whole reason behind MoonWorld, however, is to give visitors a meaningful experience of what it would be like to live and work on the Moon, and provide an educational but fun environment in which to learn about an extraordinary world. MoonWorld is expected to be up and running sometime near the end of this Summer, with no paid subscription to SL necessary. For more about MoonWorld see here (PDF file ~ 480kb), and for an image of the Timocharis region see Chuck Wood's Lunar Picture of the Day website. The above title was taken from the song written by English rock band, The Police. If you need to contact me about this article, then please do Email me a comment, or, if you like, support this site, which is run by me totally unfunded.  Top

2 March 2009: Physics World on the Moon

2 March 2009: UNESCO has marked this International Year of Astronomy by asking six international astronomers to write in Physics World about the challenges ahead in different areas of astronomy. Well-known lunar geologist and author, Paul Spudis, from the Lunar Planetary Institute (LPI) in Houston, has written an extensive article about his own particular area of expertise on the future exploration of the Moon, and what will happen over the next few decades. Rather than give a brief synopsis of the contents Dr Spudis covers, I think a reading of the full article would be more suitable. If you need to contact me about this article, then please do Email me a comment, or, if you like, support this site, which is run by me totally unfunded.  Top

1 March 2009: China Chang'e-1 spacecraft has crashed on the Moon

1 March 2009: China's Chang'e 1 mission that launched to the Moon nearly two years ago has crashed on the Moon. The spacecraft, which carried an array of scientific instruments designed to take three-dimensional images of the lunar surface, is said to have crashed somewhere in Mare Faecunditatis (see image of crash site on Chuck Wood's Lunar Photo Of the Day). The craft hit the surface at approximately 16:13pm Beijing time (08:13GMT) today in an oblique angle, and was navigated down onto the surface by remote control stations situated in China's Qingdao and northwest China's Kashi regions. The craft marked the first stage in the country's intentions to explore the Moon -- leaving engineers prepare for the the next stage, Chang'e 2. This craft is expected to be launched sometime in 2011/12 into an orbit of 100 km above the moon's surface, later followed in 2013/14 by Chang'e 3 that may involve soft landings and inspection of the lunar surface. This mission will be an exciting one as it may also include a rover whose main objective will be to transmit video footage and analyse soil samples in preparation for a sample return mission, Chang'e 4, in 2017 (returned to Earth orbit several months later). Chang'e 1 initially was designed to last a year in orbit around the Moon, however, good conditions onboard allowed it survive for an additional three months. In all, it transmitted upto 1.4 terabytes (1 terabyte = 1000 gigabytes) of data back to stations on Earth. No reports, as yet, suggest that the craft's descent was videoed, however, only computer graphics of the crash are being released. If you need to contact me about this article, then please do Email me a comment, or, if you like, support this site, which is run by me totally unfunded.  Top

27 February 2009: NASA Moon Art competition - Life and Work on the Moon

27 February 2009: If you are someone that is interested in producing a piece of art about the Moon, then why not enter the latest competition organised by NASA. Under the theme: 'Life and Work on the Moon', the agency is asking all full-time college students from around the world to submit digitally-created images that reflect the harsh environment of the Moon as they see it. Images can be of serious realistic content, for instance, like depiction of a future colony as astronauts work and live on the Moon, however, comical and surrealistic images will also be accepted, too -- just once they come under the above context and theme. And it doesn't only have to be of two-dimensional images like sketches, drawings or paintings, because three-dimensional representations like sculptures or models will also be eligible to enter. All the agency requires is that you create an original piece of art, take a digital photograph (e.g. a jpeg image) of the work, and then submit it online. If you're interested in entering the competition and think you have a chance, then firstly see the contest rules here, secondly, see how to enter here, and when you think you've got all the relevant details, go here to register. Deadline for the competition has been extended to April 15, 2009. If you need to contact me about this article, then please do Email me a comment, or, if you like, support this site, which is run by me totally unfunded.  Top

20 February 2009: Another set of Lunar Orbiter images restored

20 February 2009: Another set of images taken during the Lunar Orbiter missions NASA sent to the Moon between 1966 and 1967 have been restored. This is the second set of images NASA retrieved since it set up the restoration project known as LOIRP (Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project); whose principle aim is to translate original Lunar Orbiter analog data from 1500 tapes into digitised format. Images of the moon's surface taken during the Lunar Orbiter Program were produced and processed onboard the orbiters back in the 60s, which were then scanned and transmitted back to photographic and magnetic tape recorders on Earth. Some of the images, however, were very bad -- resulting in streaking and brightness variations in between individual framelets. Modern-day photographic reconstruction techniques are now being used to restore these bad images, and in a year's time are expected to be available to the public. But it's not all modern equipment that the team of scientists and engineers are using to restore the images, as they found out that some of the tapes will only be accepted through machines that were used back then. The images so far have not been recognised as to the area taken, however, they are from LO I and LO II data (see here a stitched image taken by LO I -- 102). For more news and information about the project see also this News story. If you need to contact me about this article, then please do Email me a comment, or, if you like, support this site, which is run by me totally unfunded.  Top

14 February 2009: Exclusive pre-interview with Galileo Galilei on the eve of his birth date

14 February 2009: The following interview took place in celebration of the International Year of Astronomy 2009, and in recognition of Galileo Galilei who first used the telescope 400 years ago to observe the Universe and Moon. The interview also marks the birthday of this extraordinary man...born in Pisa on the 15 February 1564.

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13 February 2009: New research papers available on Kaguya science

13 February 2009: Four new research papers reporting on the latest developments about our Moon have hit print in the latest issue of Science magazine. The results and data come from investigations carried out by scientists working with the Japanese Kaguya spacecraft that launched on the 14 September 2007 last, and which now is orbiting the Moon. The papers report on various aspects about the moon's crust, gravity anomalies, with some interesting results from surface maps suggesting water may not exist on or below the lunar surface because of crustal rigidity. Access to the papers is through AAAS subscribed membership, however, for $15 you can purchase it online. If you need to contact me about this article, then please do Email me a comment, or, if you like, support this site, which is run by me totally unfunded.  Top

6 February 2009: Did formation of the Moon occur earlier than previously believed?

6 February 2009: The Moon is believed to have formed from consolidated debris left over from a collision of Earth by a Mars-sized object. Most of this debris may have developed globally into an outer, molten magma ocean around denser solid debris, and this then solidified over a period of time -- giving us the solid Moon and surface-crust we see today. The rate of this solidification, which can be found from examining minerals, like zircon (aka: Apollo samples), gives an approximate age for the impact and formation of the Moon at about ~ 4,520 million years ago. However, new research, as reported in the latest issue of Nature Geoscience, suggest that the rate of solidification may have been a lot quicker than previously believed, and that the above events may have occurred upto a 100 million years earlier. The researchers involved base their findings around dating of the oldest zircon found in breccia samples at an age of 4,417 million years. Their findings suggest that the proposed magma ocean existed for about the first 100 million years of the moon's history, it solidified a lot faster, and the crust later formed on top of about 80 to 85% of this original melt. Existence of the magma ocean is still a controversial area, and was initially estimated to have solidified over a 215 million-year period. However, if the above research is to be followed, then evolution of the Earth-Moon system -- from formation to impact history to present-day -- may have been very different than once thought. The above research is available through subscription from Nature Geoscience, or as a once-off purchase for $18.00. If you need to contact me about this article, then please do Email me a comment, or, if you like, support this site, which is run by me totally unfunded.  Top

5 February 2009: A closer look inside the Moon Rover (SPR)

5 February 2009: Remember that cool-looking NASA moon rover (SPR -- Small Pressurised Rover) that did a display and dance down the inaugural route for President Obama (see My News here)? Well, have a closer look at the SPR in this ~ 9-minute-long YouTube video created by NASA Edge. It includes a spin in the rover across rough terrain, how the astronauts get in and out of the rover in their suits, and, there's a bit of fun, too. If you need to contact me about this article, then please do Email me a comment, or, if you like, support this site, which is run by me totally unfunded.  Top

3 February 2009: Observing Chang'e 1 by radio waves

3 February 2009: Right now four radio telescopes across China are tracking its country's first spacecraft, Chang'e 1 to the Moon. Precise tracking of the craft is necessary because instruments onboard taking data of the lunar surface will have to know exactly where it is in its orbit around the Moon. The data covers a range of various aspects about the Moon as a whole -- both externally and internally -- so researchers are always reaching out for anything that will help them understand that data better. The quality of that data, however, is about to get an additional boost as a new array of 19 radio telescopes, called the East Asia Very Long Baseline Interferometer, begin full-scale operations in 2010. The array will join an already existing network of radio telescopes spread across China, Japan and Korea; that together will produce a single radio dish some 6000 kilometres in diameter -- making it one of the largest radio telescope networks in the world. Radio interferometry began back in the 1960s which subsequently developed into Very Long Baseline Interferometry, however, since then Asia has been home to the largest amount of radio telescopes in the world (over 20 in Japan, 5 in East Asia including those under construction in Korea, and 5 in China, as well as several others being constructed). When operations finally get going, Chang'e 1's state of health could degrade further over time (it launched in 2007 and initially was designed for a one-year mission lifetime), so any data coming from instruments onboard now, and well into 2010, will depend very much on monitoring precisely its orbit. The craft has advanced cameras and x-ray spectrometers onboard to obtain three-dimensional images of the Moon's surface, analyze content and distribution of useful chemical elements, an map the thickness of the lunar regolith (the moon’s soil). If you need to contact me about this article, then please do Email me a comment, or, if you like, support this site, which is run by me totally unfunded.  Top

30 January 2009: Moon alignments and Earthquake research

30 January 2009: It has long been understood that the gravitational influence of the Moon in its orbit around the Earth is responsible for the bulge in the oceans and subsequent tides (see more on these tides here). But what about the Moon's influence on the crust of the Earth -- does it, too, bulge as parts of its surface comes nearer the Moon? The answer, of course, is yes! The rise is very imperceptible, however, when the Sun, Earth and the Moon are in the same alignment -- especially at New Moon and Full Moon times, the combined forces between all three can cause the earth's crust to rise and fall by upto 20 to 30 centimetres. This effect is now being looked at by a Professor at Harvard University who is investigating how the 'combined influence' and 'crust tide' can help better understand earthquakes. Earthquakes and their sources are usually worked out from timings of when they arrived at particular instruments and, particularly, by back-projection of seismic waves (ripples through the earth's crust) produced. If it is possible to use this back-projection method to find out more about earthquakes, then shouldn't it also be of use in finding a correlation between moon alignments when these quakes occur? By back-projecting the crust tides and alignments records of the past, and then correlating them to hundreds of earthquakes that Earth has experienced over time, the research could lead to a more effective detection and warning system for future potential threats. But, there is, however, some controversy amongst scientists that the alignment/earthquake correlation may not be all that relevant. The two main bodies concerned -- the Earth and the Moon -- are totally different in size and mass (the moon's diameter is roughly a quarter that of earth's and has a mass of ~ 0.012). While it has been shown that the Earth can cause moonquakes (aka: seismometers left on the Moon during the Apollo missions), the moon's size and mass may just be too weak to have the opposite effect on the Earth. The back-projection method the Harvard professor is using, however, is relatively new and some say "ground-breaking", and while it may be a year or so before any completion is finalised, researchers will have a another tool to better understand the occurrence of earthquakes around the world. If you need to contact me about this article, then please do Email me a comment, or, if you like, support this site, which is run by me totally unfunded.  Top

29 January 2009: All eyes on the Moon for LCROSS impacts

29 January 2009: The moon's surface is set to receive two man-made impactors over the coming months sometime before 2009 ends. The two impactors -- an upper stage rocket, called Centaur, and a Shepherding Spacecraft, called the S-S/C -- make up the LCROSS (Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite) spacecraft; which is a companion spacecraft onboard NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter to map the Moon. As part of the 'smashing' occasion, the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) in Alabama, USA, has announced funding of four proposals that will be carried out to compliment NASA's observing campaign of the Moon as a whole. The four chosen include: (1) "Accessing LCROSS Ejecta: Water Vapor and Particle Size and Composition from Keck, Gemini, and the IRFT Telescopes," Southwest Research Institute, Dr. Eliot Young (Principle Investigator); (2) "LCROSS Lunar Plume Observations with the Apache Point Observatory," New Mexico State University, Dr. Nancy Chanover (Principle Investigator); (3) "Multi-spectral Imaging of the LCROSS Impact," Southwest Research Institute, Dr. Marc Buie (Principle Investigator); and (4) "Searching for Polar Water Ice During the LCROSS Impact Using the MMT Observatory," University of Arizona, Dr. Faith Vilas (Principle Investigator). All four were chosen by USRA's call for proposals back in 2008, which were then rigorously reviewed based around their scientific contribution towards understanding the moon's surface and sub-surface. Observations of the event as Centaur impacts first will be recorded by both the Earth-based observatories and by LRO itself orbiting overhead, as well as the S/SC which will fly through the initial plume. Fifteen minutes later, the S/SC will then impact -- probably in a different part of the Moon -- so that the scientists will get a broader aspect of analyses about the surrounding region and environment. The most likely areas on the Moon that will receive the impactors are the pole regions -- the South Pole in particular -- because water-ice deposits may lie several metres down underneath the surface in permanently-shadowed craters. Water will play an important role for a future lunar base (expected to begin around 2020), as colonists will need 'free' resources to grow food, produce rocket fuel (from the hydrogen in H2O), and build up oxygen reserves for breathing. If you need to contact me about this article, then please do Email me a comment, or, if you like, support this site, which is run by me totally unfunded.  Top

23 January 2008: Moon to provide new tidal generator with free power

23 January 2009: As the old saying goes -- "tides wait for no man". But in Strangford Lough in Northern Ireland, the opposite will apply when man will wait for tides as a newly-build tidal generator is turned on for the first time. The generator was installed in the Lough last year by SeaGen, and is the world's first commercial-scale turbine capable of producing upto 1.2 megawatts of power -- enough to supply upto a thousand houses with electricity. The Strangford site is a relatively sheltered location above the waterline, however, below, its a very different matter as the tides are extremely strong. Two propellers fixed on either side of a central column on the generator when submerged will harness the power of these tides -- both in-tide and out-tide -- and the electricity generated will be sent off-shore into the general grid. The one big influencing factor on production of this power is of course due to the tides and the Moon. As the Moon orbits around the Earth once every ~ 28 days, its gravitational influence causes oceans on the earth's side that faces the Moon to bulge outwards in its direction. As a result, we experience one tide. However, as the Earth, too, is being pulled in a direction towards the Moon at the same, another bulge of water occurs on the opposite far side of the Earth, and so another tide follows some 12 hours later as the Earth rotates around on its axis. But the Moon is not the only body responsible for the tides, as the sun's gravitational influence on the Earth and the Moon also plays a part. For example, when the three are in different alignments in their orbits, the strengths of high and low tides on the Earth are very much dependant upon the combined gravitational influence between them. So, when the Sun and the Moon are aligned with each other in one direction, 'Spring' tides occur that produce very high tides and very low tides (usually at New or Full moon times). However, when the alignment doesn't occur (particularly during Quarter moon times), the smaller gravitational influence between them produces the 'Neap' tides, and these are neither too high nor too low, but, generally, more weaker. There is, however, another tide that occurs once every 1.5 years or so -- called the Proxigean tide. This tide is very rare and only occurs when the Moon is at its closest to the Earth during time of a New moon. The advantage in the arrangement between all three bodies, however, is that we on Earth can use this periodicity to turn tides into electricity. The occurrence, or strengths, of tides in the Strangford Lough, therefore, is highly advantages for the community, and a resource for the island as a whole towards becoming more greener. This will be the first major test of one of ten turbines envisioned for the area over time, so all eyes worldwide will be keeping tabs on the results. Ireland is currently a leader in this technology, and has one of the best wave-energy and tidal energy resources in the world. If you need to contact me about this article, then please do Email me a comment, or, if you like, support this site, which is run by me totally unfunded.  Top

19 January 2009: The wonderful adventures of President Obama and his magic moon machine