The Artemis II astronauts have kicked off their record-breaking trip around the moon that already is providing unprecedented views of the far side. Monday's lunar journey comes after the three Americans and one Canadian broke Apollo 13's distance record, the farthest that humans have ever traveled from Earth. During the hourslong flyby, Artemis II will temporarily lose contact with Mission Control as the capsule passes behind the moon without stopping. Astronauts will split into pairs and take turns capturing the magnificent lunar scenes with cameras. They'll also don special glasses to witness a total solar eclipse.
NASA's Lucy spacecraft will soon swoop past a small asteroid. It will be the second asteroid encounter for Lucy, launched in 2021 on a quest that will take it to 11 space rocks. Its ultimate destination is the unexplored swarms of asteroids out near Jupiter. NASA considers Sunday's flyby a dress rehearsal for 2027 when Lucy reaches its first so-called Trojan asteroid near Jupiter. Looking on from Mission Control in Colorado will be paleontologist Donald Johanson, who discovered the Lucy fossil 50 years ago. The asteroid is named for him.
A NASA spacecraft will make its second close brush with the sun. The Parker Solar Probe made its record-breaking first pass within 3.8 million miles of the scorching sun in December, flying closer than any object sent before. Parker will attempt the journey again on Saturday. Scientists hope the data from Parker will help them better understand the sun's outer atmosphere and what drives the solar wind. Parker was launched in 2018 to get a close-up look at the sun and is the fastest spacecraft built by humans.
New research shows that when an asteroid slammed into the moon billions of years ago, it carved out a pair of grand canyons on the far side. That's good news for NASA, which is looking to land astronauts at the south pole on the near, Earth-facing side later this decade. Because the debris went elsewhere, the moon's south pole contains older rocks that could be collected by moonwalkers. The incoming object created an impact basin and sent streams of rocks hurtling like missiles. Within minutes, two canyons comparable in size to Arizona's Grand Canyon were formed.
New research confirms volcanoes were erupting on the far side of the moon billions of years ago. Researchers analyzed lunar soil brought back by China's Chang'e-spacecraft and found fragments of volcanic rock that were about 2.8 billion years old. The oldest dated back to 4.2 billion years. Previous studies have suggested the moon's far side might have a volcanic past, but this new work confirms it with moon rocks. Chang'e-6 returned to Earth earlier this year with rock and soil samples. It was the first mission to collect samples from the moon's far side. The findings were published Friday in the journals Nature and Science.
A spacecraft has blasted off to investigate the scene of a cosmic crash. The European Space Agency's Hera spacecraft rocketed away from Florida on Monday on a two-year journey to the small, harmless asteroid rammed by NASA in 2022. It's the second part of a planetary defense test that could one day help save Earth. Launched by SpaceX, Hera will attempt to go into orbit around the asteroid and its larger companion in 2026. Scientists are eager to examine the impact's aftermath up close. They want to know exactly how effective NASA's impact was and what changes might be needed to safeguard Earth in the future.
A NASA rover on Mars is tackling a new challenge and climbing to the rim of a crater. The rover called Perseverance started the steep climb Tuesday. It has spent the last 3 1/2 years exploring the bottom of the crater where it landed in 2021. So far, it has collected 22 rock core samples and will pick up more from the top of the crater. The samples may help scientists piece together what the red planet's climate looked like billions of years ago. The rover will scale rocky terrain and slopes of up to 23 degrees on the monthslong journey.
Scientists have confirmed a cave on the moon, not far from where Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed 55 years ago. Researchers suspect there could be hundreds more caves and tunnels that could house future astronauts. An Italian-led team reported Monday that there's evidence for a sizable cave accessible from the deepest known pit on the moon. Located at the Sea of Tranquility, it was created by the collapse of a lava tube. The scientists analyzed radar measurements by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and compared the results with lava tubes on Earth.
