"I drink your hydrates. Sluuurp! Seepage!"
So, scientists have discovered that there is water on our seemingly bone dry celestial neighbor. And you’re probably wondering, well, what does that all mean?
That’s a damned good question. I’m glad you asked. And thanks to the Internet, there’s no shortage of ready access to scientists, pundits and the miscellaneous to explain it all to us.
The Planetary Society weighed in on the lunar water discovery with a rather cautious opinion…or two…three actually: (more…)
NASA MISSION UPDATE
NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has revealed frozen water hiding just below the surface of mid-latitude Mars. The spacecraft’s observations were obtained from orbit after meteorites excavated fresh craters on the Red Planet.
These images show a very young lunar crater on the side of the moon that faces away from Earth, as viewed by NASA's Moon Mineralogy Mapper on the Indian Space Research Organization's Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft. On the left is an image showing brightness at shorter infrared wavelengths. On the right, the distribution of water-rich minerals (light blue) is shown around a small crater. Both water- and hydroxyl-rich materials were found to be associated with material ejected from the crater. Credits: ISRO/NASA/JPL-Caltech/USGS/Brown Univ.
NASA MISSION UPDATE
NASA scientists have discovered water molecules in the polar regions of the moon. Instruments aboard three separate spacecraft revealed water molecules in amounts that are greater than predicted, but still relatively small. Hydroxyl, a molecule consisting of one oxygen atom and one hydrogen atom, also was found in the lunar soil. The findings were published in Thursday’s edition of the journal Science. (more…)
H+ Magazine has a Q&A interview with Randa Milliron, CEO of Interorbital Systems:
h+: Let’s start with the basic question: What are you guys doing?
RANDA MILLIRON: We’re building a low-cost transportation system from Earth to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and beyond, principally with the Moon as the next logical destination. Let me stress that this is actually a low-cost system — our rocket is not a rehash of a Delta or a kluge of leftover military missile hardware that the manufacturers say will be cheaper just because they want it to be. In reality, the other rockets are still the same intricate and expensive launchers that — by their very complex nature — will never be able to meet our price. We are building an entirely new launch vehicle — one that is the result of a philosophy of radical systems simplification. One that really is low-cost.
OMEGA ENVOY PROJECT PRESS RELEASE
The Omega Envoy Project is proud to announce a partnership with the University of Central Florida (UCF) to develop the only studentâ€led entry in a $30 million international competition, sponsored by Google, to land a robot on the moon.
Fall ’09 Aerospace Venture Forum
(for accredited investors only)
Thursday, October 22, 2009 from 7:30 AM – 1:00 PM (PT)
Los Angeles, CA
Please join us for the next Aerospace Venture Forum for Space Angels Network, the premier source of aerospace deal flow for investors and of early-stage capital for aerospace-related ventures.
In this unique Forum, you will find pre-screened investment opportunities, hear presentations from the entrepreneurs, and then meet with them at their exhibit tables. We will end the morning with an “investors only” closed-door review of the presenting ventures and lunch with the entrepreneurs.
It looks like the city of Las Cruces has had enough of the Rocket Racing League:
The city’s relationship with a Florida-based company that had planned to bring a new rocket racing league to the city-owned airport appears to have come to an end.
An artist's conception of a Virgin Galactic flight above Spaceport America in New Mexico
Spaceport tax not adding up for area schools
Las Cruces Sun-News
Educational dollars from a spaceport sales tax in Doña Ana County have yet to actually reach schools because of a dispute between county commissioners and school officials about how the money should be spent.
Water has been discovered on the moon’s dusty surface, the Associated Press reports:
The moon isn’t the dry dull place it seems. Traces of water lurk in the dirt unseen.
Three different space probes found the chemical signature of water all over the moon’s surface, surprising the scientists who at first doubted the unexpected measurement until it was confirmed independently and repeatedly.
Skeptics of global warming have always pointed to the need for more study on the issue. They believe that as more data are collected, global warming will be revealed to be an over hyped or even non-existent threat being pushed by a group of radical left-wing ideologues.
Well, more data are in, and the results are not supporting their theory, MSNBC reports:
An artist's conception of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Florida.
Air Force: SpaceX’s Falcon 9 first launch planned for Nov 29
Orlando Sentinel
After being removed from the U.S. Air Force’s 45th Space Wing’s launch schedule for five months, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is back on the board. The most recent 90-day Eastern Range forecast released Tuesday has the new rocket’s maiden launch planned for November 29 at 11 a.m. local time.
