April 2006 Top Stories
»» NASA To Announce New Robotic Lunar Lander Mission in 2008
[Thursday, April 6, 2006] "This recent NASA media announcement has to do with the fact that NASA wants to put a lunar lander on LRO as a secondary payload. Raytheon has a proposal in for a design for such a landing vehicle."
»» ESA SMART-1: Reiner Gamma swirl: magnetic effect of a cometary impact?
[Thursday, April 6, 2006] This animation, made from images taken by the Advanced Moon Imaging Experiment (AMIE) on board ESA's SMART-1 spacecraft, shows a feature characterised by bright albedo, and called Reiner Gamma Formation.
»» Remarks by NASA Administrator Michael Griffin at the National Space Symposium
[Thursday, April 6, 2006] "It is useful to recall that one of the greatest science-enabling endeavors of all time, the voyage 175 years ago of HMS Beagle, was in reality an exploration mission to chart the coast of South America."
»» Lunar Crater Names for the Columbia Astronauts Provisionally Approved
[Saturday, April 8, 2006] Names for seven craters in the Apollo basin on the Moon have been provisionally approved by the IAU to honor the seven Space Shuttle Columbia astronauts.
»» New NASA Ames Spacecraft to Look for Ice at Lunar South Pole
[Monday, April 10, 2006] NASA today announced that a small, 'secondary payload' spacecraft, to be developed by a team at NASA Ames Research Center has been selected to travel to the moon to look for precious water ice at the lunar south pole in October 2008.
»» NASA Solicitation: Exploration of the Moon and Beyond
[Tuesday, April 11, 2006] NASA is developing a global space exploration strategy. A series of activities are planned in 2006 to gain a better understanding of the role that human and robotic exploration and development of a sustained human presence on the moon.
»» NASA NEEMO 9 Mission Journal - Mission Day 6 - Saturday, April 8, 2006
[Thursday, April 13, 2006] To investigate the acceptable CG limits for future designs, the NASA EVA Physiology EPSP working in conjunction with the Crew and Thermal Systems engineers have developed a reconfigurable CG backpack that can be worn by divers on "sea walks".
»» Lunar rocks suggest meteorite shower
[Thursday, April 13, 2006] New measurements of lunar rocks returned by the Apollo missions have revealed that a number of the rocks show signs of melting suggesting that the moon - and its nearby neighbor Earth - were bombarded by a series of large meteorites at that time.
»» NASA Announces Results from Exploration Strategy Workshop
[Friday, April 21, 2006] Findings and recommendations from NASA's Exploration Strategy Workshop will be presented to media during a teleconference at 2 p.m. EDT on Friday, April 28.
»» ESA SMART-1 maps Humorum edge - where Highlands and Mare mix
[Wednesday, April 26, 2006] This sequence of images, taken by the advanced Moon Imaging Experiment (AMIE) on board ESA's SMART-1 spacecraft, shows on area on the near side of the Moon, on the edge of the Mare Humorum basin.
»» Remarks by NASA Deputy Administrator Shana Dale at the Space Exploration Strategy Workshop
[Friday, April 28, 2006] We are here today to consider how, with creativity and dedication, the world's space faring nations, working together, will advance scientific, economic and exploration progress on the moon, beginning not in 2018 when humans return to the lunar surface.
»» NASA'S Exploration Workshop Kicks Off Strategy Development
[Friday, April 28, 2006] Why are we going to the moon? What will we do when we get there? Approximately 200 participants from 13 countries grappled with these questions during NASA's Exploration Strategy Workshop, which concluded Friday.
»» Some Thoughts Regarding Presidential Science Advisor John Marburger's Speech on Space Exploration and Utilization
[Saturday, April 29, 2006] "To me, as a long time space advocate, this speech is the most important statement on the development of the space frontier from the government since John F. Kennedy's fateful endorsement of the Apollo program."
