Topic: Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
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In Pictures: Space photos of the day: Deep Impacts
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In Pictures: Space photos of the day 09/27
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In Pictures: Space photos of the day 09/07
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In Pictures: Space photos of the day 06/29
All Content
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NASA prepares twin spacecraft for crash landing
Ebb and Flow, two spacecraft that have been investigating the moon's gravitational field, will end their existence by smashing into the moon's north pole next week. The event is not likely to be visible from Earth, but the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter may catch a glimpse.
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Water ice found on scorching-hot Mercury
Temperatures on Mercury can reach 800 degrees Fahrenheit, but around the north pole, in areas permanently shielded from the sun's heat, NASA's Messenger spacecraft found a mix of frozen water and possible organic materials.
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Water on the moon? Maybe a lot more than we thought ... thanks to the sun.
A new study finds 'an unanticipated, abundant reservoir' of water on the moon, molecules formed on the surfaces of oxygen-bearing rocks bombarded by protons from the solar wind.
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Rover Curiosity is a star, but can it help fund future of Mars exploration?
The steady stream of enticing photographs from the rover Curiosity may be wowing scientists and the public, but NASA is facing serious budgetary constraints on the future of Mars exploration.
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Is there ice on the moon? Scientists spot shiny crater.
A team of MIT researchers found ice may make up 22 percent of the material on the moon's quite bright crater floor.
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NASA scientists investigate ice in huge, perpetually dark Moon crater (+video)
The interiors of polar craters on the moon are in nearly perpetual darkness, making them cold traps that researchers have long suspected might be home to vast amounts of frozen water and thus key candidates for human exploration.
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Your moon base here? Sun-washed crater rim has big vistas, but little water.
A team using observations from a lunar orbiter studied 'the living daylights' out of the Shackleton Crater, near the moon's South Pole. Their findings suggest scant water would be available to supply a lunar base there.
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Strange features on Mercury upend thinking about 'first rock from sun'
New results from NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft show Mercury to have features unlike anything scientists have seen elsewhere in the solar system. Here's one: a huge core for a planet this size.
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How did the moon get there? NASA videos explain.
Images captured by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter have been used to create an animated 4-billion-year history of the moon.
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Solar flare: Biggest in six years hits the Earth (+video)
Solar flare: The Sun is in an 11-year cycle of solar flare activity, with a peak next year. Solar flares can disrupt power grids, satellites, oil pipelines and high-accuracy GPS systems
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Obama's NASA budget: Mars takes a hit, but space science isn't dead
Two major Mars missions lost out to the James Web Space Telescope in Obama's proposed NASA budget, but there's still money for other ambitious space-science missions.
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How Mercury is like Saturn (and other surprises from NASA's orbiter)
NASA's Messenger craft has been orbiting Mercury for 88 days. Among its findings: a Saturn-like magnetic field, high concentrations of sulfur, and some support for the notion there is water ice in shadowed craters.
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Supermoon to make closest pass by Earth on Saturday
Supermoon: The moon will makes its closest approach to Earth on Saturday, appearing closer and larger to the naked eye. The last supermoon was eighteen years ago.
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Moon's got water, yeah. But it's got other resource goodies, too.
Besides water, frigid craters at the moon's poles hold other resources that astronauts might be able to use to sustain lunar bases. There's even a bit of silver.
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In Pictures: Space photos of the day: Deep Impacts
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In Pictures: Space photos of the day 09/27
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The moon as solar system's Rosetta stone?
New research suggests that two distinct groups of objects battered the surface of the moon – and could give clues into the early days of Earth's solar system.
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In Pictures: Space photos of the day 09/07
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Cool Astronomy
Is the moon really a 'been there done that' world?In the past year, we've learned that the moon is a very different place than what we had thought. Should we be so quick to disregard a manned mission?
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In Pictures: Space photos of the day 06/29
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Water on the moon: Eureka! They've found it!
NASA's sampling of a plume of material from a dark crater turns up water on the moon – and other organic compounds, too.
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NASA moon 'bombing' a plunge into the mystery of lunar water
Two pieces of a NASA spacecraft – not bombs – will crash into the moon early Friday morning, hoping to kick up evidence of water ice at the bottom of a frigid south pole crater.
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After moon bombing, search for water begins
With moon bombing mission over, NASA is sifting data to learn if polar craters hold water.
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New evidence of water on the moon
Three probes, including a NASA instrument on India's Chandrayaan-1 lunar orbiter, have detected water molecules in minerals on the moon's surface.
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Coldest place in the solar system? Look to the moon.
Craters may hold evidence of Earth's history, and frozen ices at their floors could be valuable resources for lunar explorers.
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