Lunar Archives

NASA astronaut Andre Douglas wears AR (Augmented Reality) display technology NASA ID: jsc2024e036523 Credit: NASA/Josh Valcarcel larger image

AI - Data - Apps - Cybernetics, Analog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Artemis & Lunar Exploration, Away Teams & Field Reports, Exploration Gear & Tech, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Missions & Hardware, Moon, People Of Astrobiology, Status Report, Tricorders & Sensors

Tricorder Tech: Artemis Augmented Reality Away Team Field Test

by Keith CowingJune 11, 2024June 11, 2024

Editor’s note: Right now NASA is planning the spacesuit and sensor technology needed for astronauts to operate during prolonged AwayTeam sorties to study astrogeology on the lunar surface. While the […]

Arabidopsis thaliana germinates and grows in diverse lunar regoliths -- NASA

Artemis & Lunar Exploration, Commercial & Private Sector, Exploration Gear & Tech, Life Support Systems, Plant Biology, Space Agriculture, Space Life Science, Status Report

Offworld Botany: Online Dataset Access For Plants Grown In Lunar Regolith

by Keith CowingMay 2, 2024May 2, 2024

Plants grown in Moon soil struggled with slow growth and poor health … what can we do to help them grow in these conditions? Dig into this processed dataset to […]

a HAADF image showing region with melt bleb with large vesicles beneath it. b EDS element map shows the bleb is silicate with variable composition of elements including Ti. c HAADF image showing individual pixels in the spectra image. d Low-loss EELS from pixels noted in (c). Solid numbered lines are from pixels within vesicles while dotted lines are from pixels directly beneath each vesicle. Solid black line is from unaltered apatite and shows average low-loss signal for the phase. Spectra from each vesicle offset vertically for clarity. e Map of relative intensity of O pre-peak at 531 eV (median filter) showing the regions with smaller pre-peak around the larger vesicles and the surface region with very sharp pre-peak. The silicate and carbon coat have no pre-peak. f Selected oxygen core-loss spectra summed from regions with similar pre-peak intensity, normalized at 540 eV. The oxygen K-edge EELS show large variation around the vesicles in this region beneath the silicate melt bleb. Dotted lines indicate window used for pre-peak map. -- NRL/Nature

Artemis & Lunar Exploration, Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Moon, Press Release, Space Weather & Heliophysics

Hydrogen Detected In Lunar Samples

by Keith CowingNovember 24, 2023November 24, 2023

U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) researchers have discovered solar-wind hydrogen in lunar samples, which indicates that water on the surface of the Moon may provide a vital resource for future […]

Artemis & Lunar Exploration, Gravitational Biology, Life Support Systems, Microgravity, Moon, Press Release, Space Agriculture, Space Life Science

NASA Selects 11 Space Biology Research Projects to Inform Biological Research During Future Lunar Exploration Missions

by Keith CowingNovember 22, 2023November 22, 2023

NASA announces the award of eleven grants or cooperative agreements for exciting new Space Biology research that will advance NASA’s understanding of how exposure to lunar dust/regolith impact both plant […]

Artemis & Lunar Exploration, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Press Release, Space Life Science, Space Physiology & Medicine

Lunar Explorer Instrument for Space Biology Applications (LEIA)

by Keith CowingAugust 24, 2023

NASA’s plans to explore the Moon and eventually go to Mars will bring humans deeper into space for longer duration missions than ever before.

Analog Studies, Moon, Plant Biology, Press Release, Space Agriculture

NASA Space Biology Research Funding Opportunity: Exposure To Lunar Regolith Simulant

by Keith CowingJanuary 14, 2023January 14, 2023

NASA Space Biology is soliciting proposals for ground-based plant or animal studies (and/or their associated microbes) that will characterize the responses of these organisms to conditions that recapitulate the stressors […]

Artemis & Lunar Exploration, Life Support Systems, Moon, Plant Biology, Press Release, Space Agriculture

Scientists Grow Plants in Lunar Soil

by Keith CowingMay 13, 2022March 25, 2023

In the early days of the space age, the Apollo astronauts took part in a visionary plan: Bring samples of the lunar surface material, known as regolith, back to Earth […]

Artemis & Lunar Exploration, Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Comets and Asteroids, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Impact events, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Moon, Press Release

Caltech Team Finds Evidence of Water in Moon Minerals

by Keith CowingJuly 21, 2010June 13, 2024

That dry, dusty Moon overhead? Seems it isn’t quite as dry as it’s long been thought to be. Although you won’t find oceans, lakes, or even a shallow puddle on […]