NASA to Announce New Science Results About Moon
WASHINGTON (NASA PR) — NASA will announce an exciting new discovery about the Moon from the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) at a media teleconference at 12 p.m. EDT Monday, Oct. 26. Audio of the teleconference will stream live on the agency’s website.
This new discovery contributes to NASA’s efforts to learn about the Moon in support of deep space exploration. Under NASA’s Artemis program, the agency will send the first woman and next man to the lunar surface in 2024 to prepare for our next giant leap – human exploration of Mars as early as the 2030s. Understanding the science of the Moon also helps piece together the broader history of the inner solar system.
Briefing participants are:
- Paul Hertz, Astrophysics division director at NASA Headquarters, Washington
- Jacob Bleacher, chief exploration scientist for the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters
- Casey Honniball, postdoctoral fellow at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland
- Naseem Rangwala, project scientist for the SOFIA mission, NASA’s Ames Research Center, Silicon Valley, California
As the world’s largest airborne observatory, SOFIA is a modified 747 that flies high in the atmosphere to provide its nearly 9-foot telescope with a clear view of the universe and objects in our solar system. Flying above 99% of the atmosphere’s obscuring water vapor, SOFIA observes in infrared wavelengths and can pick up phenomenon impossible to see with visible light.
For more information about NASA’s Artemis program, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis/
For more information about the SOFIA mission, visit:
8 responses to “NASA to Announce New Science Results About Moon”
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Wonder if the found some water away from the poles, say from a caldera or lava tube.
That would be a welcome development. And give the planetary scientists something to mull over for a long time.
I’ve wondered for some time if a lava tube might function as a cold-trap, as do some of the craters near the Poles.
While an interesting thought, that is not what I would consider ‘science’.
I am guessing some more info about geology, or chemical processes.
Why? Isn’t science about understanding the natural world?
Dr.Tom wins the prize!
Hopefully, whatever this is, is enough to keep CONgress from pulling SOFIA’s funding. The GOP have tried it multiple times to shut them down. BIG mistake to do that, at least until we get a space based IR scope.
Bridenstine let slip the other day at the Mars Society virtual convention that NASA scientists very recently discovered that the Moon and Earth once shared a magnetosphere. The shared magnetosphere allowed transport of oxygen from Earth to the Moon, explaining some what-has-been-mysterious rust that was also recently found on the Moon. Further, the protection of the Earth-Moon shared magnetosphere helped shield early life on Earth, thus affecting the course of evolution, which of course eventually lead to our fine selves and the birth of consciousness.
As I hadn’t heard that information elsewhere before, this might be the big Moon science announcement.