moon landing
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Peregrine spacecraft experiences ‘anomaly’ that could threaten moon landing
The Peregrine spacecraft mission has experienced an anomaly after a successful launch that stopped the vehicle from pointing its solar array at the sun. This is putting the planned moon landing in danger.
Hitting the Books: How NASA helped JFK build his 'Nation of Immigrants'
After Apollo: Cultural Legacies of the Race to the Moon, explores the myriad ways that putting a man on the moon changed the American Experience.
NASA pushes back crewed moon landing to 2025
NASA is now aiming to land astronauts on the moon in 2025 at the earliest.
Hitting the Books: How NASA selected the first Lunar Rover to scoot across the moon
In his latest book, Across the Airless Wilds, journalist Earl Swift, examines the oft ignored Apollo 15, 16, and 17 missions, our last trips to the Moon's surface.
Watch the Blue Origin sensor test that will help NASA land on the Moon (update: scrubbed)
Blue Origin is set to launch its reusable New Shepard rocket on a suborbital mission today (September 24th) and test sensors for a vehicle that could one day land on the Moon.
NASA and Astrobotic will deliver water-seeking VIPER rover to the Moon
VIPER will land on the Moon’s south pole and spend its 100-day mission looking for water ice in the area.
Time says its AR depiction of Apollo 11 is the 'most accurate' yet
Time is joining Google in marking Apollo 11's 50th anniversary using augmented reality, although this one is decidedly different -- and may be particularly valuable if you're a history buff. The magazine has introduced a Landing on the Moon AR experience in the Time Immersive app for iOS (coming shortly for Android astronauts; the experience is also available in Engadget sister company Yahoo News's app) that lets you relive the landing (complete with audio), explore the lunar surface and even stand next to Neil Armstrong while he plants the flag.
The latest Google Doodle celebrates the Apollo 11 anniversary
Google wouldn't let the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing go by without a Google Doodle. The company released its commemorative video Doodle today. The nearly five-minute animated clip follows Apollo 11 from launch, to the Moon and back, and it's narrated by someone with firsthand knowledge of the mission: Apollo 11 command module pilot Michael Collins.
Google recreates Apollo 11's command module with AR
The 50th anniversary of our first successful trip to the moon is fast approaching. And Google, which rarely shies away from marking a significant moment in history, has laid out some of the ways in which it'll celebrate the half-century since Apollo 11 reached the lunar surface.
Lego is releasing an Apollo 11 Lunar Lander set for its 50th anniversary
The 50th anniversary of the human race's first trip to the moon is fast approaching, and Lego is marking the milestone with a NASA Apollo 11 lunar lander set. It'll be available June 1st for $100.
NASA wants your memories of the Apollo 11 Moon landing
Were you fortunate enough to watch the Apollo 11 Moon landing as it happened, or know someone who did? NASA wants to hear from you. It recently launched a story program that asks the public to submit audio recordings of their Apollo 11 memories in a bid to create an oral history of the event in sync with its 50th anniversary. All you have to do is record a story or interview (shorter ones are preferred, email it and details to a special address (apollostories@mail.nasa.gov) and check your inbox in case NASA wants a follow-up. There are suggested questions if you're not sure what to ask.
Alternate 1980s RPG Majestic Nights is one big conspiracy
Some choose to believe the Apollo 11 moon landing of 1969 was a hoax, or that the United States government is keeping extraterrestrials in a hidden building somewhere in the Nevada desert. Epiphany Games is playing off these types of conspiracies with its freshly-announced episodic game, Majestic Nights, which will debut in September. In the alternate 1980s game, these sorts of conspiracies aren't just theories, but are "truths." Players guide an intelligence operative known as Cardholder and a private investigator named Cal in the isometric RPG, uncovering clues to the criminal cover-ups and world-breaking facts about events like alien abductions. The first season of Majestic Nights includes six episodes and kicks off with a "Chapter Zero" prologue for free in September, which dives into the aforementioned moon landing. Majestic Nights' subsequent chapters will come at a cost; the first is expected to arrive in October, with the season's conclusive sixth episode currently slated for April 2015. The game is in development for PC, Mac, iOS and Android, and while Epiphany didn't put a price to each chapter, season passes will be available for players to guarantee access to the whole shebang. [Image: Epiphany Games]
China sending a probe to the moon next year to look for Moonbase Alpha
State news agency Xinhua is reporting that China is planning to launch a probe to the moon in the second half of 2013. The Chang'e-3, named after the Chinese moon goddess, will deposit a lander and rover on our natural satellite to survey its bumpy surface. It'll launch from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province and is a sign of the continuing ambition of the nation's space program -- after it deposited a crew on its Tiangong-1 space station two months ago.
X Prize adopts NASA guidelines for protecting lunar heritage sites, Buzz Aldrin punch averted
NASA hopes that one small step by Google's Lunar X Prize will eventually lead to a giant leap in protecting historical sites on the moon. The X Prize Foundation announced that it will adopt guidelines released by the space agency last year to help preserve lunar heritage sites. The move comes at a crucial time as a new space race increases the possibility of an imminent moon landing, according to NASA. Google's Lunar X Prize alone currently has 26 contestants worldwide vying to land a robot on the lunar surface by 2015. NASA stressed that their recommendations aren't law and "do not represent mandatory U.S. or international requirements." Examples include approach and landing guidelines to minimize disturbance, contamination and degradation of Apollo mission sites. That certainly sounds more reasonable than, say, plopping some dude in a spacesuit at a lunar outpost to shoot trespassers with a plasma shotgun while yelling, "Get off my property!" In the meantime, feel free to mosey on over to the PR after the break.
NASA tests future moon landing robots on Canada's fake moon site
NASA is testing two new robots designed to for future moon landings in a crater in Canada, both of which are equipped with some high end kit designed to analyze their surroundings. Loaded up with "GPS, stereo cameras, laser scanners and sun trackers," the K10 Black and K10 Red can laser map terrain over 3,000 feet away, and fire radar into the ground and detect features up to 16.4 feet down. Running on regular laptop batteries, the robots are able to cover over 120 acres of ground and operate for up to five hours at a time, providing far more information than the restricted space-suit wearing astronauts are able to gather. Now all NASA's gotta do is get the robots onto the moon by the around-2020 date that the adminstration keeps mentioning. [Via The Register]
