Silicon Valley Start-Up To Mine The Moon
A new lunar gold rush? Via Phenomenonica:
A Silicon Valley start-up, founded by an Indian-American entrepreneur, plans to mine the moon and is in the process of building robotic rovers that will search the lunar surface for precious metals and rare metallic elements.
Moon Express Inc or MoonEx, co-founded by Naveen Jain, is building the robotic rovers alongside scientists at NASA’s Ames Research Centre near San Jose, a report in the Los Angeles Times said. “MoonEx should be ready to land on the lunar surface by 2013,” Jain said.
While there is no guarantee that the moon is “flush” with these materials, MoonEx thinks it “may be a gold mine of so-called rare earth elements.”
“From an entrepreneur’s perspective, the moon has never truly been explored,” the report quoted Jain, chairman and company co-founder, as saying. “We think it could hold resources that benefit Earth and all humanity.”
MoonEx’s machines are designed to look for materials…
Will March 19 ‘Supermoon’ Trigger Natural Disasters?
Natalie Wolchover asks some disturbing questions at Space.com:
On March 19, the moon will swing around Earth more closely than it has in the past 18 years, lighting up the night sky from just 221,567 miles (356,577 kilometers) away. On top of that, it will be full. And one astrologer believes it could inflict massive damage on the planet.
Richard Nolle, a noted astrologer who runs the website astropro.com, has famously termed the upcoming full moon at lunar perigee (the closest approach during its orbit) an “extreme supermoon.”
When the moon goes super-extreme, Nolle says, chaos will ensue: Huge storms, earthquakes, volcanoes and other natural disasters can be expected to wreak havoc on Earth. (It should be noted that astrology is not a real science, but merely makes connections between astronomical and mystical events.)
But do we really need to start stocking survival shelters in preparation for the supermoon?
The question is not actually so…
Phil Plait: No, The “Super-Moon” Didn’t Cause the Japanese Earthquake
Moon's Apogee and Perigee.
The ever lucid Phil Plait writes on Bad Astronomy:
Japan suffered a massive earthquake last night, measuring nearly magnitude 9. This is one of the largest quakes in its history, causing widespread and severe damage. Before I say anything else, I’m greatly saddened by the loss of life in Japan, and I’ll be donating to disaster relief organizations to help them get in there and do what they can to give aid to those in need.
While there isn’t much I can do to directly help the situation in Japan, I do hope I can help mitigate the panic and worry that can happen due to people blaming this earthquake on the so-called “supermoon” — a date when the Moon is especially close to the Earth at the same time it’s full. So let me be extremely clear:
Despite what a lot of people are saying, there is no way…
Two Planets Found Sharing One Orbit
It really is a strange universe out there. Marcus Chown writes in New Scientist:
Buried in the flood of data from the Kepler telescope is a planetary system unlike any seen before. Two of its apparent planets share the same orbit around their star. If the discovery is confirmed, it would bolster a theory that Earth once shared its orbit with a Mars-sized body that later crashed into it, resulting in the moon’s formation.
The two planets are part of a four-planet system dubbed KOI-730. They circle their sun-like parent star every 9.8 days at exactly the same orbital distance, one permanently about 60 degrees ahead of the other. In the night sky of one planet, the other world must appear as a constant, blazing light, never fading or brightening.
Gravitational “sweet spots” make this possible. When one body (such as a planet) orbits a much more massive body (a star), there are…
Earth’s Precession Changes Zodiac Signs: Are You Now An Ophiuchus?
The interwebs have been going crazy with a supposed change to the zodiac that has added a new sign called Ophiuchus and changed all the other signs’ dates.
It’s world-changing (well if you believe in this sort of thing : ) If you’d like to read what’s really going on here behind the hubbub and learn a bit about astronomy not astrology, Charlie Jane Anders over at io9.com has an excellent post:
What on Earth is going on? And why does everybody suddenly have to work with a new version of the completely meaningless zodiac?
It seems to have started with this article in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune last weekend, in which one astronomer made some statements about the zodiac. Parke Kunkle is on the board of directors of the Minnesota Planetarium Society and teaches astronomy at Minneapolis Community and Technical College. Kunkle told the Star-Tribune the Earth’s relation to the sun had changed since the Babylonians first created…
NASA Reveals That Moon Has Liquid Core
Could it really be that sensors placed on the Moon by Apollo astronauts in 1971 only just revealed this information about the structure of the Moon, or has NASA been holding information back? The Daily Mail reports:
It’s an unlikely marriage between state-of-the-art and 40-year-old technology that has yielded extraordinary results.
Signals from seismic sensors left on the lunar surface by Apollo astronauts in 1971 have revealed that the Moon has a liquid core similar to Earth’s.
Scientists at Nasa applied contemporary seismological techniques to the data being emitted from sensors placed by their colleagues during the U.S. space program’s heyday.
The new research suggests the Moon possesses a solid, iron-rich inner core with a radius of nearly 150 miles and a fluid, primarily liquid-iron outer core with a radius of roughly 205 miles.
Where it differs from Earth is a partially molten boundary layer around the core estimated to have a radius of nearly 300…
The Real 12 Stages of A Lunar Eclipse
John Rennie writes on PLoS:
Skywatchers are excitedly awaiting the total lunar eclipse that will occur tonight between 2:41 a.m. and 3:53 a.m. EST, and if you intend to stay awake to watch this amazing sight, then by all means read the Space.com description of the 12 stages of the eclipse. Joe Rao’s article thoughtfully explains what you will see as the moon transits through different portions of the earth’s shadow. I wholeheartedly recommend it — if you want to wallow in astronomical nonsense.
Oh, I’m sure Joe Rao’s piece is backed up by an abundance of scientific facts and observations, if you care to put your faith in such things. But those of us well-versed in the ancient wisdoms know that the real 12 stages of a lunar eclipse are as follows:
1. Faint penumbral dimming of the moon’s disk.
2. Pervasive creeping sensations of unease.
3. Howling of wolves.
4. Unclean things walk the earth; Dick Cheney rises from the grave.
5. Contortion of the zodiac.
6. Intrusion of strange dimensions.
7. Universal gibbering madness.
8. Cthulhu.
9. A glimmer of sanity in the chaos.
10. Restoration of Euclidean geometry.
11. Fungal Mi-go from Yuggoth return captive brains to their rightful owners.
12. Applause, followed by waffles for breakfast.
NASA Discovers Oasis on the Moon
It’s not a mirage, it may actually be an oasis. From The New York Times:
The Moon, at least at the bottom of a deep, dark cold crater near its south pole, seems to be wetter than the Sahara, scientists reported Thursday.
In lunar terms, that is an oasis, surprisingly wet for a place that had long been thought by many planetary scientists to be utterly dry.
If astronauts were to visit this crater, they might be able to use eight wheelbarrows of soil to melt 10 to 13 gallons of water. The water, if purified, could be used for drinking, or broken apart into hydrogen and oxygen for rocket fuel — to get home or travel to Mars.
“That is a very valuable resource,” said Anthony Colaprete, principal investigator of NASA’s Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite — or Lcross, for short — which made the observations as it, by design, slammed into the…
20 Percent of UK Kids Believe Buzz Lightyear Was First to Walk on Moon
OK, so maybe in the UK Neil Armstrong isn’t quite the folk hero he is in the United States, but still! From the Daily Mail:
One in five British children thinks Buzz Lightyear from the Toy Story films was the first person to walk on the moon, researchers found.
And although twice as many knew it was actually a man called Armstrong, they thought he was called Lance – the seven-time Tour de France winner – rather than Neil.
The figures emerged in a study of 2,000 children aged six to 12 which revealed that while many know all about celebrities, there are worrying gaps in their knowledge of key events in history.
[continues in the Daily Mail]
Who Parked Our Moon?
Editor’s Note: This essay from Jim Marrs exploring a number of controversial ideas about the Moon was originally published in Above Top Secret: Uncover the Mysteries of the Digital Age (Disinformation, 2008).
Despite six announced visits by U.S. astronauts between 1969 and 1972, the Moon remains a riddle to scientists in many regards. The solutions to these riddles could indicate an alien aspect of our familiar Moon.
Called “the Rosetta Stone of the planets” by Dr. Robert Jastrow, the first chairman of NASA’s Lunar Exploration Committee, scientists had hoped by studying the composition of the Moon, to resolve some of the mysteries of how our planet and solar system came into existence.
However, six Moon landings later, science writer Earl Ubell declared, “… the lunar Rosetta Stone remains a mystery. The Moon is more complicated than anyone expected; it is not simply a kind of billiard ball frozen in space and time, as many scientists…
Darryl Cunningham Investigates Various So-Called “Moon Hoaxes”
There are many things to question is this world, but that people landed on the Moon forty-one years ago today (July 20th) isn’t one of them. Very informative explanation in comic strip form from Darryl Cunningham:
Lunargate!
Disinfo.com editor’s note: This classic report by former editor Alex Burns was originally published on this site on Aug. 13, 2002. Some external links may have changed.
In a now infamous 1961 speech, US President John F. Kennedy pledged that America’s space program would “place a man on the moon before the decade’s close.”
At the heart of cold war battles for geopolitical supremacy, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs also became the vehicle for inculcating domestic populations with American values and belief systems.
NASA’s growing power, its protection by the Kennedy administration, and the rise of the Right Stuff astronaut as celebrity hid the steady growth of the Military-Industrial Complex that Eisenhower had warned about.
These anxieties–of monolithic social institutions controlling information, and the decline of US global empires–are the core of conspiracy theories claiming the historic Apollo moon landings were elaborately faked. The world was hoaxed.
Anatomy of a Faked…
The Most Detailed View of the Dark Side of the Moon
Awesome. Jesus Diaz writes on Gizmodo:
This is the hidden face of the moon like you’ve never seen if before, as captured by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter’s LOLA instruments. Despite its appearance, the picture wasn’t processed by NASA scientists taking LSD while listening to Pink Floyd.
The rainbow colors correspond to the elevation of the terrain, going from 20,000 feet (red) to -20,000 feet (blue). The beautiful coloring, combined with the unique sharp view of the craters — the largest in the solar system — makes me want the whole Moon to be exactly like that all year around.
The image is part of an article on ten cool things discovered in the first year of the LRO, which includes the Moon landing sites but not this amazing close up of its surface.
Is There A Tiny Art Museum on the Moon?
A Lunar Warhol? Far out. Walt Becher writes on Tampa Bay Online:
When author and art curator Jade Dellinger looks up at a full moon, he thinks it’s amazing that there might be a tiny “Moon Museum” there containing the works of six world famous artists, including Andy Warhol.
Dellinger, a Tampa-based art and pop culture expert, has a rare duplicate of a tiny ceramic chip containing the six drawings that could have been smuggled aboard the Apollo 12 moon mission in 1969.
The chip, which may be attached to a lunar module left behind, contains the whimsical and symbolic work of radical ’60s artists Warhol, Claes Oldenberg, Robert Rauschenberg, David Novros, John Chamberlain and Forrest “Frosty” Myers, who was the mastermind behind the project.
“It’s fantastic to think that these artists managed to get something that represents our culture on the moon,” said Dellinger whose curiosity about this 40-year-old mystery lead to an…
Space Nazis Launch Future Sneak Attack Against The World (Video)
And you thought the Nuremberg Trials would end this evil. The good folks at io9.com have been monitoring this Finnish production from the get-go, let us know what’d cha think:
Russian Lunar Rover Found: 37-Year-Old Space Mystery Solved
From Science Daily:
A researcher from The University of Western Ontario has helped solve a 37-year old space mystery using lunar images released March 15 by NASA and maps from his own atlas of the moon.
Phil Stooke, a professor cross appointed to Western’s Departments of Physics & Astronomy and Geography, published a reference book on lunar exploration in 2007 entitled, “The International Atlas of Lunar Exploration.”
On March 15, images and data from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) were posted. The LRO, scheduled for a one year exploration mission about 31 miles above the lunar surface, will produce a comprehensive map, search for resources and potential safe landing sites and measure lunar temperatures and radiation levels.
Using his atlas and the NASA images, Stooke pinpointed the exact location of the Russian rover Lunokhod 2, discovering tracks left by the lunar sampler 37 years ago after it made a 35-kilometre trek. The journey was…
Water Found in Apollo Moon Rocks
From National Geographic:
Recently NASA crashed two spacecraft into the moon and orbiters scanned the lunar surface for telltale light signatures—all to confirm the rocky body isn’t bone dry after all.
But, it turns out, solid evidence for water on the moon was under our noses the whole time.
Tiny amounts of water have been found in some of the famous moon rocks brought back to Earth by the Apollo astronauts, scientists announced last Wednesday. (Related: “Apollo 11 at 40: Facts, Myths, Photos, and More.”)
The water levels detected in Apollo moon rocks and volcanic glasses are in the thousands of parts per million, at most—which explains why analyses of the samples in the late 1960s and early 1970s concluded that the moon was absolutely arid.
“Only in the last decade have instruments become sensitive enough to even analyze water at those kinds of concentrations,” said Gary Lofgren, the lunar curator at NASA’s Johnson Space…
Tons of Water Ice Found on the Moon’s North Pole
Thanks to Coast to Coast AM for posting this article to their Twitter feed. By Tariq Malik for Space.com:
Vast pockets of water ice numbering in the millions of tons have been discovered at the north pole of the moon, opening up another region of the lunar surface for potential exploration by astronauts and unmanned probes, NASA announced Monday.
A NASA radar instrument on an Indian moon probe found evidence of at least 600 million metric tons of water ice spread out on the bottom of craters at the lunar north pole. It is yet another supply of lunar water ice, a vital resource that could be mined to produce oxygen or rocket fuel to support a future moon base, NASA officials said.
More than 40 craters ranging from 1 mile (2 km) to 9 miles (15 km) wide were found harboring the water ice, which was detected using NASA’s Mini-SAR radar instrument on India’s…
The U.S. and Soviet Union Considered Detonating Nuclear Bombs on the Moon
With all the hubub about NASA blowing up the Moon last October, I thought disinfo.com readers would like to know the U.S. (and the Commies!) had it in mind all along.
Here’s another chapter from my book 50 Things You’re Not Supposed to Know, published in 2003.
For more on me, check out: The Memory Hole.
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You’d be forgiven for thinking that this is an unused scene from Dr. Strangelove, but the United States and the Soviet Union have seriously considered exploding atomic bombs on the Moon.
It was the late 1950s, and the Cold War was extremely chilly. Someone in the US government got the bright idea of nuking the Moon, and in 1958 the Air Force Special Weapons Center spearheaded the project (labeled A119, “A Study of Lunar Research Flights”).
The idea was to shock and awe the Soviet Union, and everybody else, with a massive display of American nuclear might. What better demonstration than…
Lunargate! Alex Burns Examines the Weird World of Moon Landing Conspiracies
The recent cuts to NASA’s budget, including the axing of the upcoming lunar missions, the Ares Rocket System, and the Orion Spacecraft, have left many of us quite scared for the future of the U.S. space program. This classic article from Alex Burns examines those that question whether or not NASA even got to the moon in the first place. Are we afraid to go back, or to go there at all?
Lunargate by Alex Burns
In a now infamous 1961 speech, US President John F. Kennedy pledged that America’s space program would “place a man on the moon before the decade’s close.” At the heart of cold war battles for geopolitical supremacy, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs also became the vehicle for inculcating domestic populations with American values and belief systems.
NASA’s growing power, its protection by the Kennedy administration, and the rise of the Right Stuff astronaut as celebrity hid the steady growth of the Military-Industrial Complex that Eisenhower had warned about.
These anxieties — of monolithic social institutions controlling information, and the decline of US global empires — are the core of conspiracy theories claiming the historic Apollo moon landings were elaborately faked. The world was hoaxed.
