Posts in “Space” Category

LCROSS mission picture courtesy NASA


This morning, NASA's LCROSS (Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite) intentionally crashed into the moon's surface in hopes of uncovering traces of ice near the moon's south pole. The impact created a crater of about 100 feet (300 meters) wide and scattered 200 tons of material on the moon's surface.

Impacts on the moon aren't unusual. Other objects similar in size to LCROSS, such as meteors, hit the moon every month and more than two dozen NASA objects are already scattered across the moon's surface.

Learn more about the LCROSS crash on National Geographic News.

Check out pictures of moon exploration on National Geographic Kids.

Quiz Your Noodle and find out how much you know about the moon on National Geographic Kids.

Play Pluto's Secret on National Geographic Kids.

Photograph courtesy NASA


July 20 is the 40th anniversary of humankind's first steps on the moon. On July 16, 1969, the world watched as the Apollo 11 rocket Columbia lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, carrying astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins. The trip to the moon took three days, and on July 20, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin stepped off of the Eagle, Apollo 11's lunar module. People back home on Earth watched the astronauts take their first steps on the moon, and heard Neil Armstrong say "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." The astronauts spent a total of 21 hours on the moon before the Eagle returned to the Columbia for the trip home.

The Apollo 11 crew safely returned to Earth on July 24, 1969. NASA plans to send another mission to the moon within the next decade.

Get the story behind the moon landing on National Geographic News.

Check out the Man and the Moon features on National Geographic Channel.

How much do you know about the moon? Quiz Your Noodle and find out!

Watch a video of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon.

The space shuttle Discovery lifted off on Sunday, carrying a human guinea pig with the crew! Astronaut Koichi Wakata will be the first Japanese astronaut to have a long stay in the International Space Station. His visit will be three months long.

Since there are no washing machines aboard the space station, Wakata will need to take enough clothes to last for his entire stay. That's a lot of underwear and socks! Wakata will report on the state of his underwear, wire himself with sensors, and he'll perform tests such as arm wrestling to help scientists back on Earth understand the effects of living in space.

Read more about the mission on National Geographic News.

See pictures of space shuttles in the Photo Gallery.

The Russian Federal Space Agency invites kids from around the world to design a patch for the crew of the Soyuz mission scheduled to launch in March. The first place drawing will become the official Soyuz TMA-14 logo, and will be worn as a patch on the crew members' space suits!

U.S astronaut Michael R. Barratt, a Russian cosmonaut, and space flight participant will be on board the Soyuz rocket to the International Space Station. The Soyuz TMA-14 crew members will help judge the drawings submitted in the contest.

The first, second and third place winners will have an opportunity to visit the Baikonur space port in Kazakhstan and participate in a pre-launch ceremony.

The contest ends December 25. For information on how to enter the contest visit NASA.

One of the Endeavour astronauts accidentally lost a tool bag during a spacewalk on Tuesday after a grease gun inside the bag exploded. Objects have been lost in space before, but this was one of the largest items ever lost by an astronaut on a spacewalk.

Photograph by Susan Poulton


The space shuttle Endeavour blasted off from Cape Canaveral in Florida at 7:55 p.m. EST on Friday, November 14. The shuttle docked with the International Space Station on November 15, and is scheduled to return with its crew of seven astronauts on November 27.

The shuttle carried important cargo to the space station, including a new toilet and a water purifier that will make sweat and urine into drinkable water!

See more pictures of the shuttle launch on National Geographic's Breaking Orbit blog.

The next astronauts to land on the moon will be driving an all-new lunar rover. The new rover, called the Chariot, will contain several improvements over the old "moon buggies," including an optional pressurized cabin with beds, a pantry, a waste-management system, and a pair of space suits, allowing astronauts to live and work "on the road" for up to two weeks.

The rover will need to pass several rounds of tests between now and 2019, when the final model will be complete.



Read more on National Geographic News.