"Houston, we have a problem". The popular NASA phrase was pronounced on April 13, 1970, when the three astronauts of the Apollo 13 mission, two days after takeoff, were forced to abandon their plans to make the third manned moon landing due to the explosion of the oxygen tanks.
NASA's 'Mini-SAR' radar, installed on the Indian satellite Chandrayaan-1, has detected more than 40 small lunar craters 1.6 to 15 kilometers in size, all filled with ice. "Although the total amount of ice depends on its thickness in each crater, it is estimated that there could be at least 600 million metric tons of frozen water on the satellite," NASA said in a statement.
Like the hunted white whale Moby Dick taunting Captain Ahab. This is how Prometheus, one of the moons that accompanies Saturn, appears before the viewer in a surprising 3D image sent by NASA's Cassini space probe. In the image, the Sun illuminates the satellite at a different angle, making the elongated body of Prometheus visible for the first time.
The plasma spectrometer aboard the Cassini spacecraft has found an unexpected mass of ions and dust on Saturn's satellite Enceladus, indicating that this icy moon could contain liquid water below the surface. "Although it was no surprise to confirm the presence of water, the ions - some carbohydrates - are additional evidence for the existence of groundwater. And where there is water, carbon and energy, all the necessary ingredients for life are present," he explains Andrew Coates of University College London, co-author of the study.
The president of the United States, Barack Obama, will suspend in the draft of the state budget for 2011 the financing to send a new mission to the moon. The text, which will be made public today, does not foresee funds for the continuation of NASA's Constellation program, in which around 9 billion dollars have already been invested.
In James Cameron's new movie Avatar, humans visit an alien moon named Pandora. If moons like this exist, or like the Endor satellite from Star Wars, NASA's Kepler mission will find them, according to astronomer Lisa Kaltenergger.
The first human being who, along with Neil Armstrong, set foot on the Moon lived his true odyssey on Earth. Buzz Aldrin has told Angela Posada-Swafford about the personal difficulties he had to overcome to become the brilliant advocate of space exploration that he is today.
There is water on the Moon. This is the conclusion reached by the authors of three different scientific studies published today in the journal Science. A fourth study reveals that there is ice on Mars under five craters created by the impact of meteorites.
Danni Büchner is invited to Sam Dylan's Halloween party. But the "Goodbye Germany" emigrant has no desire for many other party guests. And find clear words.
