NASA Spacecraft Returns First Video from Far Side Of The Moon
WASHINGTON — A camera aboard one of NASA’s twin Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) lunar spacecraft has returned its first unique view of the far side of the moon. MoonKAM, or Moon Knowledge Acquired by Middle school students, will be used by students nationwide to select lunar images for study.

GRAIL consists of two identical spacecraft, recently named Ebb and Flow, each of which is equipped with a MoonKAM. The images were taken as part of a test of Ebb’s MoonKAM on Jan. 19. The GRAIL project plans to test …

Lofty goals such as manned moon base by 2020, but are they real?
Editorial – With the election campaign in full swing Newt Gingrich has recently been stumping Florida and has had some interesting things to say about his view on the exploration of space and the future. One interesting item he has stated as a goal is to have a permanently maned moon base by 2020, the end of his second term. That is a mere eight years from now. Is this even possible? At first glance one would say most likely it is not. The NASA SLS heavy lift …

SLS rocket will be the largest rocket since the Apollo Saturn V.
NASA issued a report NASA’s Space Launch System and Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle persuent to Section 309 of the NASA Authorization Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-267). We have listed some of the highlights and facts about the SLS and NASA directors statement from this report.

With the President’s signing of the NASA Authorization Act of 2010 on October 11, 2010, NASA has a clear direction and is making plans for moving the Agency forward. Guidance from the Administrator has established three principles for development of any future systems for exploration. These …

NASA’S Twin GRAIL Spacecraft Reunite In Lunar Orbit
PASADENA, Calif. — The second of NASA’s two Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) spacecraft has successfully completed its planned main engine burn and is now in lunar orbit. Working together, GRAIL-A and GRAIL-B will study the moon as never before.

“NASA greets the new year with a new mission of exploration,” said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. “The twin GRAIL spacecraft will vastly expand our knowledge of our moon and the evolution of our own planet. We begin this year reminding people around the world that NASA does big, bold things in order to …

 
SLS and former Constellation (Ares) programs are flawed in same fundamental way.
NASA recently announced development of a new heavy lift rocket. The pictures of this new rocket look very much like the Apollo era Saturn V. It appears NASA wants to suggest a Saturn V like heritage. With the recent cancellation of the Constellation program and the ARES V heavy lift rocket one wonders what will be different that will allow the SLS Rocket to succeed where the ARES did not. Both launch systems are heavy lift rockets intended to get us to the Moon and beyond. Both designed by …

First Of NASA’S Two Grail Spacecraft Enters Orbit Around Moon
PASADENA, Calif. — The first of two NASA spacecraft to study the moon in unprecedented detail has entered lunar orbit.
NASA’s Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory (GRAIL)-A spacecraft successfully completed its planned main engine burn at 2 p.m. PST (5 p.m. EST) today. As of 3 p.m. PST (6 p.m. EST), GRAIL-A is in a 56-mile (90-kilometer) by 5,197-mile (8,363-kilometer) orbit around the moon that takes approximately 11.5 hours to complete.

“My resolution for the new year is to unlock lunar mysteries and understand how the moon, Earth and other rocky planets evolved,” …

 
Send your own rocket to the Moon
There is a group of engineers that had entered into the Google XPrize competition who have started a project to allow anyone to send a small payload to the moon. The group known as Lunar Robotics  is raising private funds in order to build the first prototype rocket. They are raising funds through small investors…like you…as their main funding was lost.
They claim that they have come up with two things which make sending a payload to the moon affordable. The first is a launch by balloon. This basically lifts a rocket to about 100-150,000 …

Source – (NASA) -At the Apollo 17 site, the tracks laid down by the lunar rover are clearly visible, along with the last foot trails left on the moon. The images also show where the astronauts placed some of the scientific instruments that provided the first insight into the moon’s environment and interior.

“We can retrace the astronauts’ steps with greater clarity to see where they took lunar samples,” said Noah Petro, a lunar geologist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., who is a member of the LRO project science team.
All three images show distinct trails left in …

GREENBELT, Md. — NASA reported Thursday that its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, has successfully completed its testing and calibration phase and entered its mapping orbit of the moon. The spacecraft already has made significant progress toward creating the most detailed atlas of the moon’s south pole to date. Scientists released preliminary images and data from LRO’s seven instruments.
“The LRO mission already has begun to give us new data that will lead to a vastly improved atlas of the lunar south pole and advance our capability for human exploration and scientific benefit,” said Richard Vondrak, LRO project scientist at NASA’s …

WASHINGTON — NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, has returned its first imagery of the Apollo moon landing sites. The pictures show the Apollo missions’ lunar module descent stages sitting on the moon’s surface, as long shadows from a low sun angle make the modules’ locations evident.
The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera, or LROC, was able to image five of the six Apollo sites, with the remaining Apollo 12 site expected to be photographed in the coming weeks.
The satellite reached lunar orbit June 23 and captured the Apollo sites between July 11 and 15. Though it had been expected that LRO …