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2008

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  • A Telescope Made of Moondust

    July 9, 2008

    Mix moondust with epoxy, add a dash of carbon nanotubes, and spin. The result? A parabolic mirror perfectly suited for a lunar observatory. A NASA scientist has discovered this new recipe for making telescopes out of moondust, and to prove it works he has spun a "moondust mirror" here on Earth.

  • Moondust and Duct Tape

    April 21, 2008

    Going to the Moon? Don't forget your duct tape. Thirty-six years ago when Apollo 17 Astronautsfound themselves a quarter million miles from home with a damaged moonbuggy, a roll of "good old fashioned American gray tape" saved the day.

  • Apollo Relic Reveals its Secrets

    June 20, 2008

    In 1967, Surveyor 3 landed on the Moon. Two years later, Apollo Astronautsvisited the little unmanned spacecraft and brought pieces of it home to Earth. Now, a portion of Surveyor's robotic arm, the scoop it used to sample moondust, is teaching researchers some long-lost secrets.

  • The Realm of Earthworms: NASA Gets Down to the Nitty-Gritty

    Aug. 15, 2008

    NASA scientists are preparing to launch a "flying tractor" with microwave sensors to explore the nitty-gritty realm beneath your feet.

  • Amateur Astronomers See Perseids Hit the Moon

    Sept. 2, 2008

    Backyard astronomers watching the Perseid meteor shower last month saw meteoroids hitting not only Earth but also the Moon. They recorded the impacts using backyard telescopes and off-the-shelf cameras, showing that "lunar meteors" are easy targets for amateur observatories and that amateur astronomers can contribute to NASA's lunar research.

  • Ulysses Flyby of the Sun's North Pole

    Jan. 14, 2008

    At a pivotal moment of the solar cycle, the NASA/ESA Ulysses spacecraft is flying over the sun's mysterious North Pole.

  • A Super Solar Flare

    May 6, 2008

    In September 1859, a solar flare erupted so intense that the explosion itself was visible to the human eye. A ferocious geomagnetic storm ensued in which Northern Lights descended as far south as Cuba, the Bahamas and Hawaii. Meanwhile, telegraph engineers disconnected their batteries and powered communications by electricity from the auroras! Could it happen again?

  • A Flash of Insight: LCROSS Mission Update

    Aug. 11, 2008

    There are places on The Moonwhere the sun hasn't shined for millions of years, inky-dark places that may harbor a treasure of great value. NASA's is about to light one of them up.

  • Planets in a Bottle

    Planets in a Bottle

    March 16, 2008

    The "Life on the Edge" program is barely a month old but it's already producing results in some grade school classrooms.

  • Life on the Edge Update

    June 30, 2008

    Yeast packets are retrieved by a team of sled dogs to test the hardiness of microbes to extreme conditions.