A recent study published in Nature Astronomy examines how processes within the Earth’s magnetic field could be contributing to the formation of water on the surface of the Moon. This study was led by the University of Hawai’i (UH) and comes during an increased interest in finding water ice across the lunar surface, which has previously been confirmed to exist within the permanently shadowed regions (PSRs) of the lunar north and south poles due to the Moon’s small axial tilt of only 1.5 degrees compared to the Earth’s 23.5 degrees. Additionally, better understanding the lunar surface water content could also help scientists gain better insights into the Moon’s formation and evolution, which is currently hypothesized to have formed from a Mars-sized object colliding with the Earth approximately 4.5 billion years ago, or approximately 100 million years after the Earth formed.
Space News & Blog Articles
The OSIRIS-REx Capsule Has Landed! Asteroid Samples Returned!
The OSIRIS-REx mission has just completed NASA’s first sample-return mission from a near-Earth asteroid (NEA). The samples arrived at the Utah Test and Training Range (UTTR) near Salt Lake City, where a team of engineers arrived by helicopter to retrieve the sample capsule. The samples will be curated by NASA’s Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Directorate (ARES) and Japan’s Extraterrestrial Sample Curation Center (ESCuC). Analysis of the rocks and dust obtained from Bennu is expected to provide new insight into the formation and evolution of the Solar System.
Osiris-REX Capsule Returns Samples of Asteroid Bennu to Earth
Samples taken from the asteroid Bennu are now safely on Earth.
OSIRIS-REx sample return capsule safely lands in Utah
From left to right, NASA Sample Return Capsule Science Lead Scott Sandford, NASA Astromaterials Curator Francis McCubbin, and University of Arizona OSIRIS-REx Principal Investigator Dante Lauretta, examined the OSIRIS-REx sample return capsule after it landed at the Department of Defense’s Utah Test and Training Range on Sept. 24, 2023. Image: NASA/Keegan Barber.
A saucer-shaped capsule carrying asteroid fragments that may hold clues about the birth of the solar system slammed into Earth’s atmosphere Sunday and descended to an on-target parachute-assisted touchdown in Utah in the final chapter of a dramatic seven-year, four-billion-mile voyage.
NASA's OSIRIS-REx capsule just landed with samples of asteroid Bennu. Next stop: Texas
Hey NASA, you've just landed your first samples from an asteroid! Where are they going next? Houston, of course.
NASA's OSIRIS-REx lands samples of asteroid Bennu to Earth after historic 4-billion-mile journey
NASA successfully recovered a capsule containing samples of asteroid Bennu taken by its OSIRIS-REx spacecraft in 2020.
SpaceX to launch 21 Starlink satellites from California early on Sept. 25
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to launch from California early Monday morning (Sept. 25), carrying 21 Starlink satellites to orbit.
NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft releases asteroid sample capsule toward Earth in flyby, heads to Apophis
The first asteroid samples ever collected by NASA are closing in on Earth for a historic landing in Utah today (Sept. 24).
Spending time in space can harm the human body — but scientists are working to mitigate these risks before sending people to Mars
With NASA planning more missions to space in the future, scientists are studying how to mitigate health hazards that come with space flight.
Mathematicians find 12,000 new solutions to 'unsolvable' 3-body problem
Calculating the way three things orbit each other is notoriously tricky — but a new study may reveal 12,000 new ways to make it work.
Interview: Talking asteroid sample return
Spaceflight Now’s Will Robinson-Smith speaks with some of the key figures at Lockheed Martin, who helped bring the OSIRIS-REx mission to life and will continue working with both the spacecraft and the asteroid samples after the return capsule lands in the Utah desert.
Live coverage: Seven-year asteroid adventure to end with sample return
Live coverage as a capsule lands in the U.S. Army test range in the Utah desert carrying samples from the surface of asteroid Bennu. The OSIRIS-REx (short for the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security-Regolith Explorer) has been on a seven-year journey to Bennu and back. If all goes according to plan the capsule will land under a parachute at about 10:55 a.m. EDT (1455 UTC) on Sunday.
Mission Status Center
OSIRIS-REx Returns This Sunday!
On September 8th, 2016, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer) mission launched from Earth. Its primary mission was to rendezvous with the asteroid Bennu, a carbonaceous Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA), obtain samples from its surface, and return them to Earth for analysis. On December 3rd, 2018, the mission reached Bennu and spent the next two years searching for the optimal place to retrieve these samples. Tomorrow, on Sunday, September 24th, the mission will finally deliver these samples to Earth for analysis.
Live Coverage: Another Falcon 9 gets ready to hit 17-flight milestone
Spaceflight Now will provide live coverage of the Starlink 6-18 launch from Cape Canaveral, with commentary, starting about an hour before launch.
Machine Learning Algorithms Can Find Anomalous Needles in Cosmic Haystacks
The face of astronomy is changing. Though narrow-field point-and-shoot astronomy still matters (JWST anyone?), large wide-field surveys promise to be the powerhouses of discovery in the coming decades, especially with the advent of machine learning.
SpaceX rocket to launch on record-tying 17th mission tonight
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to launch for a record-tying 17th time tonight (Sept. 23), carrying 22 Starlink satellites to orbit.
Humans battle hostile AI in final trailer and first clip from new sci-fi thriller, 'The Creator' (video)
20th Century Studios releases the final trailer for director Gareth Edwards' sci-fi epic 'The Creator.'
Sky Map stargazing app review
Free and easy-to-use, the Sky Map app is a great option for those interested in trying out stargazing for the first time.
Watch NASA's OSIRIS-REx asteroid probe approach Earth tonight with free telescope livestream
The Virtual Telescope Project will point its telescopes towards NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft on Sept. 23 as it approaches Earth to return a sample of the asteroid Bennu.
How NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission will help protect Earth against asteroid Bennu and its flyby in 2182
Asteroid Bennu is the space rock with the highest known probability of hitting Earth in the next 200 years. NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission will help us protect ourselves.
OSIRIS-REx probe will bring pristine asteroid samples to Earth on Sept. 24. Watch it live
NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission is set to deliver its asteroid sample to Earth on Sunday morning (Sept. 24), and you can watch the historic action live.
