NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day

September 14, 2024

The Moona Lisa

Only natural colors of the Moon in planet Earth's sky appear in this creative visual presentation. Arranged as pixels in a framed image, the lunar disks were photographed at different times. Their varying hues are ultimately due to reflected sunlight affected by changing atmospheric conditions and the alignment geometry of Moon, Earth, and Sun. Here, the darkest lunar disks are the colors of earthshine. A description of earthshine, in terms of sunlight reflected by Earth's oceans illuminating the Moon's dark surface, was written over 500 years ago by Leonardo da Vinci. But stand farther back from your screen or just shift your gaze to the smaller versions of the image. You might also see one of da Vinci's most famous works of art.

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

International Observe the Moon Night

September 14, 2024

International Observe the Moon Night is a time to come together with fellow Moon enthusiasts and curious people worldwide.

Everyone on Earth is invited to learn about lunar science and exploration, take part in celestial observations, and honor cultural and personal connections to the Moon.

We encourage everyone to interpret “observe” broadly!

International Observe the Moon Night occurs annually in September or October, when the Moon is around first quarter ― a great phase for evening observing.

A first-quarter Moon offers excellent viewing opportunities along the terminator (the line between night and day), where shadows enhance the Moon’s cratered landscape.

You can join International Observe the Moon Night from wherever you are. Attend or host a virtual or in-person event, or observe the Moon from home.

Connect with fellow lunar enthusiasts around the world through our Facebook page, #ObserveTheMoon on your preferred social media platform, and the International Observe the Moon Night Flickr group.

Outdoors, at home, online, or wherever you may be, we’re glad to have you with us.

However you choose to observe, please follow local guidelines on health and safety.

Goals of International Observe the Moon Night:

Unite people across the globe in a celebration of lunar observation, science, and exploration.

Provide information, a platform, and resources in order to:

Raise awareness of NASA’s lunar science and exploration programs.

Empower people to learn more about the Moon and space science and exploration, using Earth’s Moon as an accessible entry point.

Facilitate sharing of Moon-inspired stories, images, artwork, and more.

Inspire continued observation of the Moon, the sky, and the world around us.

Support all people who are interested in learning more about, and connecting to, the Moon.

More About International Observe the Moon Night

More About International Observe the Moon Night

International Observe the Moon Night is sponsored by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mission and the Solar System Exploration Division at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, with many contributors.

Plan Ahead

Upcoming dates for International Observe the Moon Night

September 14, 2024

October 4, 2025

October 17, 2026

https://moon.nasa.gov/observe-the-moon-night/about/overview/

NASA’s Artemis II Crew Uses Iceland Terrain for Lunar Training

Sep 13, 2024

Black and gray sediment stretches as far as the eye can see. Boulders sit on top of ground devoid of vegetation. Humans appear almost miniature in scale against a swath of shadowy mountains.

At first glance, it seems a perfect scene from an excursion on the Moon’s surface … except the people are in hiking gear, not spacesuits.

Iceland has served as a lunar stand-in for training NASA astronauts since the days of the Apollo missions, and this summer the Artemis II crew took its place in that long history.

NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, along with their backups, NASA astronaut Andre Douglas and CSA astronaut Jenni Gibbons, joined geology experts for field training on the Nordic island.

“Apollo astronauts said Iceland was one of the most lunar-like training locations that they went to in their training,” said Cindy Evans, Artemis geology training lead at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

“It has lunar-like planetary processes – in this case, volcanism. It has the landscape; it looks like the Moon. And it has the scale of features astronauts will both be observing and exploring on the Moon.”

Iceland’s geology, like the Moon’s, includes rocks called basalts and breccias. Basalts are dark, fine-grained, iron-rich rocks that form when volcanic magma cools and crystalizes quickly. In Iceland, basalt lavas form from volcanoes and deep fissures.

On the Moon, basalts can form from both volcanoes and lava pooling in impact basins. Breccias are angular fragments of rock that are fused together to create new rocks.

In Iceland, volcanic breccias are formed from explosive volcanic eruptions and on the Moon, impact breccias are formed from meteoroids impacting the lunar surface.

Apollo astronauts said Iceland was one of the most lunar-like training locations that they went to in their training.

Along with exploring the geology of Iceland, the astronauts practiced navigation and expeditionary skills to prepare them for living and working together, and gave feedback to instructors, who used this as an opportunity to hone their instruction and identify sites for future Artemis crew training.

They also put tools to the test, learning to use hammers, scoops, and chisels to collect rock samples.

“The tools we used during the Apollo missions haven't changed that much for what we're planning for the Artemis missions,” said Trevor Graff, exploration geologist and the hardware and testing lead on the Artemis science team at NASA Johnson.

“Traditionally, a geologist goes out with just standard tool sets of things like rock hammers and scoops or shovels to sample the world around them, both on the surface and subsurface.”

The Artemis tools have a bit of a twist from traditional terrestrial geology tools, though.

Engineers must take into consideration limited mass availability during launch, how easy it is to use a tool while wearing pressurized gloves, and how to ensure the pristine nature of the lunar samples is preserved for study back on Earth.

“There’s really transformational science that we can learn by getting boots back on the Moon, getting samples back, and being able to do field geology with trained astronauts on the surface,” said Angela Garcia, exploration geologist and an Artemis II science officer at NASA Johnson.

The Artemis II test flight will be NASA’s first mission with crew under Artemis and will pave the way to land the first woman, first person of color, and first international partner astronaut on the Moon on future missions.

The crew will travel approximately 4,600 miles beyond the far side of the Moon.

While the Artemis II astronauts will not land on the surface of the Moon, the geology fundamentals they develop during field training will be critical to meeting the science objectives of their mission.

These objectives include visually studying a list of surface features, such as craters, from orbit. Astronauts will snap photos of the features, and describe their color, reflectivity, and texture — details that can reveal their geologic history.

“Having humans hold the camera during a lunar pass and describe what they’re seeing in language that scientists can understand is a boon for science,” said Kelsey Young, lunar science lead for Artemis II and Artemis II science officer at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

“In large part, that’s what we’re training astronauts to do when we take them to these Moon-like environments on Earth.”

https://science.nasa.gov/missions/artemis/nasas-artemis-ii-crew-uses-iceland-terrain-for-lunar-training/

Sols 4304-4006: 12 Years, 42 Drill Holes, and Now… 1 Million ChemCam Shots!

Sep 13, 2024

Today, I need to talk about ChemCam, our laser and imaging instrument on the top of Curiosity’s mast.

It one of the instruments in the “head” that gives Curiosity that cute look as if it were looking around tilting its head down to the rocks at the rover’s wheels.

On Monday, 19th August the ChemCam team at CNES in France planned the 1 millionth shot and Curiosity executed it on the target Royce Lake on sol 4281 on Mars.

Even as an Earth scientist used to really big numbers, this is a huge number that took me a while to fully comprehend.

1 000 000 shots! Congratulations, ChemCam, our champion for getting chemistry from a distance – and high-resolution images, too. If you are now curious how Curiosity’s ChemCam instrument works, here is the NASA fact sheet.

And, of course, the team is celebrating, which is expressed by those two press releases, one from CNES in France and one from Los Alamos National Laboratory, the two institutions who collaborated to develop and build ChemCam and are now running the instrument for over 12 years!

And the PI, Dr Nina Lanza from Los Alamos informs me that the first milestone – 10000 shots was reached as early as Sol 42, which was the sol the DAN instrument used its active mode for the first time.

But before I am getting melancholic, let’s talk about today’s plan!

The drive ended fairly high up in the terrain, and that means we see a lot of the interesting features in the channel and generally around us.

So, we are on a spot a human hiker would probably put the backpack down, take the water bottle out and sit down with a snack to enjoy the view from a nice high point in the landscape.

Well, no such pleasures for Curiosity – and I am pretty sure sugar, which we humans love so much, wouldn’t be appreciated by rover gears anyway.

So, let’s just take in the views! And that keeps Mastcam busy taking full advantage of our current vantage point.

We have a terrain with lots of variety in front of us, blocks, boulders, flatter areas and the walls are layered, beautiful geology.

Overall there are 11 Mastcam observations in the plan adding up to just about 100 individual frames, not counting those taken in the context of atmospheric observations, which are of course also in the plan.

The biggest mosaics are on the targets “Western Deposit,” “Balloon Dome,” and “Coral Meadow.” Some smaller documentation images are on the targets “Wales Lake,” “Gnat Meadow,” and “Pig Chute.”

ChemCam didn’t have long to dwell on its milestone, as it’s busy again today. Of course, it will join Mastcam in taking advantage of our vantage point, taking three remote micro imager images on the landscape around us.

LIBS chemistry investigations are targeting “Wales Lake,” “Gnat Meadow,” and “Pig Chute.” APXS is investigating two targets, “College Rock” and “Wales Lake,” which will also come with MAHLI documentation.

With all those investigations together, we’ll be able to document the chemistry of many targets around us.

There is such a rich variety of dark and light toned rocks, and with so much variety everywhere, it’s hard to choose and the team is excited about the three targeted sols … and planning over 4 hours of science over the weekend!

The next drive is planned to go to an area where there is a step in the landscape. Geologists love those steps as they give insights into the layers below the immediate surface.

If you have read the word ‘outcrop’ here, then that’s what that means: access to below the surface. But there are also other interesting features in the area, hence we will certainly have an interesting workspace to look at!

But getting there will not be easy as the terrain is very complex, so we cannot do it in just one drive. I think there is a rule of thumb here: the more excited the geo-team gets, the more skills our drivers need.

Geologists just love rocks, but of course, no one likes driving offroad in a really rocky terrain – no roads on Mars.

And right now, our excellent engineers have an extra complication to think about: they need to take extra care where and how to park so Curiosity can actually communicate with Earth.

Why? Well, we are in a canyon, and those of you liking to hike, know what canyons mean for cell phone signals… yes, there isn’t much coverage, and that’s the same for Curiosity’s antenna.

This new NASA video has more information and insights into the planning room, too!

So, we’ll drive halfway to where we want to be but I am sure there will be interesting targets in the new workspace, the area is just so, so complex, fascinating and rich!

And that’s after Mars for you, after 12 years, 42 drill holes, and now 1 Million ChemCam shots. Go Curiosity go!!!

https://science.nasa.gov/blog/sols-4304-4006-12-years-42-drill-holes-and-now-1-million-chemcam-shots/

Waxing Gibbous Moon over Minnesota

Sep 13, 2024

An astronaut aboard the International Space Station snapped this picture of the Moon as the station orbited 265 miles above the U.S. state of Minnesota on Dec. 17, 2021.

Astronauts aboard the orbital lab take images using handheld digital cameras, usually through windows in the station’s cupola, for Crew Earth Observations.

Crew members have produced hundreds of thousands of images of the Moon and Earth’s land, oceans, and atmosphere.

On Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, International Observe the Moon Night, everyone on Earth is invited to learn about lunar science, participate in celestial observations, and honor cultural and personal connection to the Moon.

Find an event to join in the celebration.

https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/waxing-gibbous-moon-over-minnesota/

NASA’s Lunar Challenge Participants to Showcase Innovations During Awards

Sep 13, 2024

NASA‘s Watts on the Moon Challenge, designed to advance the nation’s lunar exploration goals under the Artemis campaign by challenging United States innovators to develop breakthrough power transmission and energy storage technologies that could enable long-duration Moon missions, concludes on Friday, Sept. 20, at the Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland.

“For astronauts to maintain a sustained presence on the Moon during Artemis missions, they will need continuous, reliable power,” said Kim Krome-Sieja, acting program manager, Centennial Challenges at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

“NASA has done extensive work on power generation technologies. Now, we’re looking to advance these technologies for long-distance power transmission and energy storage solutions that can withstand the extreme cold of the lunar environment.”

The technologies developed through the Watts on the Moon Challenge were the first power transmission and energy storage prototypes to be tested by NASA in an environment that simulates the extreme cold and weak atmospheric pressure of the lunar surface, representing a first step to readying the technologies for future deployment on the Moon.

Successful technologies from this challenge aim to inspire, for example, new approaches for helping batteries withstand cold temperatures and improving grid resiliency in remote locations on Earth that face harsh weather conditions.

Media and the public are invited to attend the grand finale technology showcase and awards ceremony for the $5 million, two-phase competition.

U.S. and international media interested in covering the event should confirm their attendance with Lane Figueroa by 3 p.m. CDT Tuesday, Sept. 17, at: lane.e.figueroa@nasa.gov.

NASA’s media accreditation policy is available online.

Members of the public may register as an attendee by completing this form, also by Friday, Sept. 17.

During the final round of competition, finalist teams refined their hardware and delivered a full system prototype for testing in simulated lunar conditions at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland.

The test simulated a challenging power system scenario where there are six hours of solar daylight, 18 hours of darkness, and the user is three kilometers from the power source.

“Watts on the Moon was a fantastic competition to judge because of its unique mission scenario,” said Amy Kaminski, program executive, Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing, Space Technology Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

“Each team’s hardware was put to the test against difficult criteria and had to perform well within a lunar environment in our state-of-the-art thermal vacuum chambers at NASA Glenn.”

Each finalist team was scored based on Total Effective System Mass (TESM), which determines how the system works in relation to its mass.

At the awards ceremony, NASA will award $1 million to the top team who achieves the lowest TESM score, meaning that during testing, that team’s system produced the most efficient output-to-mass ratio.

The team with the second lowest mass will receive $500,000. The awards ceremony stream live on NASA Glenn’s YouTube channel and NASA Prize’s Facebook page.

The Watts on the Moon Challenge is a NASA Centennial Challenge led by NASA Glenn.

NASA Marshall manages Centennial Challenges, which are part of the agency’s Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing program in the Space Technology Mission Directorate.

NASA has contracted HeroX to support the administration of this challenge.

https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasas-lunar-challenge-participants-to-showcase-innovations-during-awards/