NASA's New Future

NASA has experienced its most radical shakeup in 50 years, with the recent cancellation of the Constellation program. What does the future hold? Come and hear me talk at the Powerhouse Museum on April 18 at 2:00 PM. Click the link above for details.

China to launch second Moon probe in 2010

October 2010 is the most probable lift-off time for the Chang'e-2 mission, which will be a lunar orbiter similar to the Chang'e-1 mission launched in October 2007.

This new mission is actually the back-up spacecraft for Chang'e-1. Some of the instruments have been changed, and the spacecraft carries a better camera than its predecessor.

In the meantime, NASA is still gathering data from its own orbiter, LRO.

Expect more discoveries to come from the Moon in 2010.

Life on the Moon?

Nobody knows for sure! There is probably no alien life there, but the possibility is strengthened by the recent discovery of large amounts of ice. Read the article on the link above for yourself.

Also, don't forget, my book is still available. See the link on the side to Rosenberg Publishing.

Even more water!

Data from the LCROSS impact mission, pictured on the cover of my book, has revealed even more water at the south pole of the Moon than anyone previously suspected. This is wonderful news! It paves the way for a future Moon base, and industry on the Moon. But who will build the base, and when?

Water, water everywhere!

Recent discoveries by two lunar orbiters suggest that there's more water on the Moon than we suspected. This water has been discovered in areas where previous thinking suggested it could not exist. The water is scattered in sunlit regions, and is probably produced when particles from the solar wind react with lunar rocks. No, there's not much there, but finding any water across the lunar surface is amazing!

AIIA Victoria lecture online

The title of this post links to a mp3 file of my July 2009 lecture to the Australian Institute of International Affairs in Victoria. This lecture covered some of the issues in my book, The New Moon Race.

Why go to the Moon without landing?

One proposal for the future of NASA would see spacecraft orbiting the Moon without any plans to land there. Is this really a good scenario for America's space program? Read my article in SpaceDaily.com at the link above and decide for yourself.