A total solar eclipse will be visible across parts of the United States Aug. 21, treating amateur and professional astronomers alike to sights similar to this NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory ultraviolet image of the moon eclipsing the sun on Jan. 31, 2014.
(NASA)
An astronomer explains how. why and when eclipses happen, what scientists can learn from them, and what they would look like if you were standing on the Moon.
A view from the ‘Kimberley’ formation on Mars taken by NASA’s Curiosity rover. The strata in the foreground dip towards the base of Mount Sharp, indicating flow of water toward a basin that existed before the larger bulk of the mountain formed.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
We could learn a lot from any mission to send people to Mars, such as whether there’s life elsewhere in the universe or even the technology for new household appliances.
Between the Earth and the moon: An artist’s rendering of a refueling depot for deep-space exploration.
Sung Wha Kang (RISD)
To get us to Mars and beyond, a team of students from around the world has a plan involving lunar rovers mining ice and a space station between the Earth and the moon.
Often eclipsed by Apollo 11, the final manned moonshot left far more than bootprints in the dust. In these troubling times, it also left us with a lasting message of hope.
Right side of the moon.
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio
Full moons are good reason to look up – and the one on Nov. 14 is no exception. But here’s why you likely won’t see something shockingly different from other full moons you’ve observed over the years.
The moon’s Orientale impact basin, with rings. Red corresponds to ‘hills’ and blue to ‘valleys’.
Ernest Wright, NASA/GSFC Scientific Visualization Studio.)
Inflatable space habitats, like the one installed on the International Space Station this week, could see wide application in space and planetary exploration.
Gene Cernan driving a lunar rover in December 1972.
NASA
A six degree change in the moon’s tilt could help us understand the origin of water in the inner solar system, and help us mine our staellite for it, too.
How would people react to mining on the moon?
NASA, GPN-2001-000009
No one nation should be allowed to go it alone and develop a mining industry in space. It needs an international effort and Australia, with a long history in mining, can play its part.