Earth And Moon

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  Blue Origin’s New Shepard NS-29 Mission to Test Lunar Gravity Simulation

  Blue Origin’s New Shepard NS-29 mission, scheduled for Jan. 28, 2025, will simulate lunar gravity during its suborbital flight. The uncrewed mission, launching from West Texas, carries 30 experiments, with 17 contributed by NASA. These experiments aim to advance lunar exploration technologies, including studying moon dust behaviour, fire dynamics...

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  Asteroid 2024 PT5 Linked to Lunar Surface, Reveals Planetary Defense Insights

  Asteroid 2024 PT5, sized like a school bus, passed Earth in January at 1.1 million miles. Research suggests it originated from the moon, ejected thousands of years ago by an impact. Spectral analysis matched it to Apollo 14 lunar rocks, ruling out artificial origins. This is the second known lunar asteroid after 469219 Kamo’oalewa. The study hint...

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  Study Reveals Earth's Small Asteroid Likely Originated from the Moon

  Asteroid 2024 PT5, discovered near Earth in 2024, is suspected to be a fragment from the Moon’s surface. Researchers found its composition matches lunar rock samples, specifically silicate-rich materials, unlike any known asteroid. Analysis from NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies confirmed it is a natural object, not human-made debris,...

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  NASA's TESS Discovers Fastest Disintegrating Planet Ever Seen: What You Need to Know

  NASA’s TESS has observed the closest and fastest disintegrating planet, BD+05 4868 Ab, located 141 light-years away. The planet loses a moon’s mass every million years as it is bombarded by its host star. Scientists are examining its massive dust trails, offering rare insights into the composition of terrestrial exoplanets. Researchers from MIT...

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  Did Earth Create the Moon? Research Uncovers Clues About Lunar Formation

  Recent findings from the University of Göttingen and the Max Planck Institute challenge previous theories about the moon's formation. The study reveals that the moon was largely created from material ejected from Earth's mantle, not from the protoplanet Theia. Additionally, it offers new perspectives on the origin of water on Earth, suggesting tha...

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  NASA's LEXI Mission Will Explore Earth’s Magnetic Shield from the Moon

  NASA is preparing for the launch of the Lunar Environment Heliospheric X-ray Imager (LEXI) aboard Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost lander, scheduled for January 15. The mission will observe Earth’s magnetosphere, capturing X-ray images that reveal how the planet's magnetic shield reacts to solar wind. This project could improve predictions of geoma...

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  Earth Aligns Between Sun And Jupiter For Spectacular December 7 Event

  On December 7, Earth will align between the Sun and Jupiter, creating a rare astronomical event known as Jupiters opposition.

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  Time Moves Faster on The Moon Than on Earth, Claims New Study

  A 56-microsecond daily time drift between Earth and the Moon, caused by relativity, presents unique challenges for future lunar missions. Scientists are devising a standard lunar time system to ensure navigation accuracy and mission safety, particularly as NASA’s Artemis programme expands human and robotic activity on the Moon. This groundwork is...

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  Time Moves Faster On Moon Than On Earth? Scientists Reveal

  To explore the Earth's natural satellite, the communication and navigation infrastructure between both worlds must be synced immaculately.

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  NASA Europa Clipper Advances Toward Jupiter’s Moon, Instruments Successfully Deployed

  NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft, launched in October 2024, is journeying toward Jupiter’s moon Europa to study its icy surface and hidden ocean. Currently over 13 million miles from Earth, the spacecraft has successfully deployed its solar arrays, magnetometer boom, and radar antennas. It will use a gravity assist from Mars in March 2025 to ad...

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  Earth Bids Goodbye To Its 'Mini Moon' After Months-Long Stay

  The mini moon will pay another visit to Earth in January, as per the scientists.

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  New Lunar Map Attempts to Identify the Origin Impact Craters of Rock Samples

  A new map of the moon’s Mare Orientale basin highlights areas containing original impact melt. These findings could help date the basin’s formation, which is estimated to be 3.8 billion years old. Scientists believe this research may reveal Earth’s early impact history while guiding future lunar sample-return missions. The map also distinguis...

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  NASA Explains Cause Behind the Moon Drifting Away From Earth

  NASA explains that the Moon is gradually moving away from Earth at a rate of 4 cm per year. This process is driven by tidal forces between the two bodies, with Earth’s oceans creating friction that transfers energy to the Moon, pushing it into a higher orbit.

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  Moon Rocks Brought From the Far Side Confirm Ancient Volcanic Activity

  Researchers analysing lunar samples from China’s Chang’e-6 mission have uncovered evidence of ancient volcanic activity on the Moon’s far side. The mission, which returned nearly two kilograms of lunar soil in June, landed in the South Pole-Aitken Basin, one of the Moon’s oldest craters. Studies published in Science and Nature revealed volc...

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  Earth’s Temporary Second Moon 2024 PT5 Bids Farewell as It Exits Orbit

  On 29 September 2024, Earth briefly welcomed asteroid 2024 PT5 as a second moon. Discovered by NASA's ATLAS, this small asteroid will exit Earth's orbit by mid-November 2024. Its fleeting presence offers astronomers valuable insights into tracking mini-moons and potential asteroid threats. As scientists explore these transient companions, they unco...