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WRITER FUEL: NASA Worried About Moonquakes at Planned Artemis 3 Landing Site

A photograph of the moon's surface. (Image credit: NASA)

When plotting sites for crewed lunar landings — ranging from the forthcoming Artemis missions to eventual lasting moon settlements — mission planners must account for tons of lunar parameters. For instance, the shape of the terrain could make or break a mission and a possible high volume of buried water could make one spot much … Read more

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Writer Fuel: You Can Be Buried on the Moon. But Should You?

Humans and the Moon - deposit photos

When NASA attempted to return to the Moon for the first time in 50 years on January 8, more was at risk than just US$108 million worth of development and equipment. The agency earned the ire of the Native American Navajo people, who made a bid to stop the launch because of an unusual inclusion … Read more

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Writer Fuel: Human Activity Ushers In a New Era – On the Moon

Humans and the Moon - deposit photos

A new geological epoch has begun on the moon, which reflects the fact that humans are now the biggest influence on the lunar surface, a group of scientists suggest. The researchers named the moon’s new epoch the “Lunar Anthropocene.” “Cultural processes are starting to outstrip the natural background of geological processes on the moon,” Justin … Read more

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Writer Fuel: Earth Has a Quasi Moon

earth and asteroid

Scientists recently discovered an asteroid that tags along with Earth during its yearly journey around the sun. Dubbed 2023 FW13, the space rock is considered a “quasi-moon” or “quasi-satellite,” meaning it orbits the sun in a similar time frame as Earth does, but is only slightly influenced by our planet’s gravitational pull. It is estimated … Read more

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Writer Fuel: Saturn’s Moon Enceladus Has a Giant Geyser

An illustration of NASA's Cassini orbiter soaring through a giant vapor jet over the moon Enceladus (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Scientists caught Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus spraying a “huge plume” of watery vapor far into space — and that plume likely contains many of the chemical ingredients for life. Scientists detailed the eruption — glimpsed by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) in November 2022 — at a conference at the Space Telescope Science Institute … Read more

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Writer Fuel: Will We Ever Lose the Moon?

the moon in red over a sea of clouds at night - deposit photos

The moon’s orbit around Earth appears so regular that civilizations have based the month on lunar motion for thousands of years. However, the moon is actually creeping slowly away from Earth. So will Earth lose its moon at some point? Scientists determined the rate at which the moon is drifting away from Earth with help … Read more

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Writer Fuel: Students to Land First Rover on the Moon

Moon - Deposit Photos

After 65 years of lunar exploration, the United States is finally going to put its first autonomous rover on the moon. But this mission won’t be helmed by NASA engineers — instead, it is the brainchild of a dedicated group of college students. The Iris rover was developed by students, faculty and alumni at Carnegie Mellon … Read more

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Review: Dropnauts – J. Scott Coatsworth

Dropnauts - J. Scott Coatsworth

Genre: Sci-Fi Reviewer: Olivia Universal Buy Link | Bookshop.Org About The Book Life after the Crash.Over a century after the end of the Earth, life goes on in Redemption, the sole remaining Lunar colony, and possibly the last outpost of humankind in the Solar System. But with an existential threat burrowing its way into the … Read more

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Writer Fuel: Is Much of the Moon’s Water Locked inside Glass Beads?

Spherules from an 800,000-year-old meteor impact found in the Transantarctic Mountains. Similar beads on the moon may contain billions of tons of buried water, new research suggests. (Image credit: Van Ginnekan, Genge and Harvey 2018, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta)

Chinese researchers may have discovered billions of tons of water inside strange glass spheres buried on the moon, and they could be used as a future water source for moon bases, a new study suggests. The tiny glass spherules, collected in lunar soil samples and brought to Earth by China’s Chang’e-5 mission in December 2020, … Read more

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Writer Fuel: Scientists Discover “Tides” in Space, Caused by the Moon

tides in space

The moon exerts a previously unknown tidal force on the “plasma ocean” surrounding Earth’s upper atmosphere, creating fluctuations that are similar to the tides in the oceans, a new study suggests. In the study, published Jan. 26 in the journal Nature Physics, scientists used more than 40 years of data collected by satellites to track … Read more