Drawing of the path of near-Earth asteroid 2012ge DA14 when it passes close to Earth on Feb. 15, 2013. (NASA)

Earth is about to have a close encounter with an asteroid, the nearest an object of its size has ever come to our planet.

The fly-by is expected to occur at around 1924 UTC on Feb. 15, according to scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

The US space agency says there’s no chance the asteroid will collide with Earth.

“This is a record-setting close approach,” says Don Yeomans of NASA’s Near Earth Object Program at JPL. “Since regular sky surveys began in the 1990s, we’ve never seen an object this big get so close to Earth.”

Scientists expect the asteroid to pass us at a distance of about 27,700 km from the surface of the Earth. That’s close enough for it to pass inside the ring of a number of geosynchronous weather and communications satellites currently orbiting the Earth at about 36,000 km from Earth’s surface above the equator.

However, the asteroid should fly well above most of the satellites and spacecraft circling the planet, including the International Space Station (ISS).

To get an idea of just how close the 2012 DA14 asteroid will get to us, consider that it will come nearer to us than the moon, about 1/13th of the distance to the Moon, which is 384,400 km from Earth.

It’s expected to whiz by our planet quite fast, at a speed of about 7.8 kilometers per second in a south-to-north direction. This will be the closest an asteroid has come to Earth in at least 30 years and will give researchers a unique opportunity  to study it.

The 2012 DA14 is quite small, weighing about 130,000 metric tons and measuring about 45 meters across, less than the width of a soccer field. Astronomers believe it is made of stone, rather than metal or ice.

The asteroid was discovered by astronomers at the OAM Observatory in La Sagra, Spain less than a year ago, on Feb. 23, 2012, which is why “2012″ is part of its name.

NASA video feature of asteroid fly-by

A few other asteroids have flown even closer to Earth, but they were much smaller than the one expected to zoom by this month.  Scientists say objects of this size fly this close to the Earth about once every 40 years; an actual collision with Earth happens about every 1,200 years.

The 2012 DA14 asteroid is so tiny, it’s expected to look like a small point of light, even to those using the biggest optical telescopes. Difficult to see with the naked eye, it will be easily visible with a good set of binoculars or a small telescope.

Astronomers say the best place to see the asteroid will be in Indonesia, but people in Eastern Europe, Asia and Australia should also be able to get a glimpse.

The public can watch the event through live feeds from telescopes in La Sagra and Tenerife, Spain.

NASA astronomers at the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex (GDSCC) in California’s Mojave Desert will use radar imaging to determine the orbit of the asteroid, allowing them to better predict future encounters. The imaging data will also be used to create a 3D map showing the asteroid from all sides and should reveal more about the asteroid’s physical characteristics, such as its size and spin.

The moon (Photo: NASA)

The Earth and its moon started with a big bang, according to a new theory from NASA scientists, who believe both were born out of collisions between two massive developing planets.The new theory suggests the two giant planetary bodies, each about five times the size of Mars, collided with each other twice.

After the first collision, the planets smashed into each other again, leaving behind material which resulted in our early Earth. The fledgling planet was surrounded by a disk of left-over material, which later combined to form the moon.

This new theory challenges the widely-held “giant impact hypothesis,” which suggests the moon formed early in our solar system’s history after an enormous impact between Earth and a Mars-sized planet that was still being formed.  Some call that protoplanet Theia, after the mother of the goddess of the moon in Greek mythology.

However, skeptics say if the Theia theory were true, Earth and the moon would have different chemical compositions from each other, which they don’t.

Iconic photo of the Earth and moon as seen from the Apollo 8 spacecraft while in lunar orbit on 12/24/1968. (Photo: NASA)

According to the new NASA theory, the two collisions, along with the subsequent melding of left-over material, formed both the Earth and the moon, which is why they have similar chemical compositions. “Our understanding of the solar system is constantly being refined with each new discovery,” says NASA’s Greg Schmidt. “This research illustrates the importance of modeling planetary formation to enhance our scientific understanding of the moon and its place in the solar system.”

The model which demonstrates this new theory was developed at the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), in San Antonio, Texas by Robin M. Canup.

Canup says her work was inspired by previous studies on the early history of the moon, which explain the similar chemical composition of the Earth and moon, while at the same time producing an appropriate mass for Earth and the moon.

“The ultimate likelihood of each impact scenario will need to be assessed by improved models of terrestrial planet formation,” Canup said.  Canup’s work is outlined in Science.

Video: A computer simulation of a low-velocity collision of two protoplanets that contain 45 and 55 percent of the Earth’s mass. Colors indicate particle temperature in kelvin, with blue-to-red indicating temperatures from 2,000 K to in excess of 6,440 K. After the first protoplanetary impact, they re-collide, merge and form a rapidly spinning Earth-mass planet that is surrounded by a disk of particles that would later form the Moon. (Video: Southwest Research Institute)

India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV C-21 lifts off Sunday, Sept. 9, 2012, from a launch pad in southern India, marking the 100th mission for the Indian Space Research Organization. (Photo: ISRO)

India’s space program celebrated an historic milestone Sunday after successfully launching  its 100^th space mission.

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) put a French satellite and Japanese micro-satellite into polar orbit aboard its Polar Satellite Launch vehicle (PSLV).

The mission’s payload included SPOT 6, an observation satellite from France’s space agency (CNES),  and Proiteres, a 15-kg microsatellite built by students and faculty at Japan’s Osaka Institute of Technology (OIT).

ISRO began its venture into space back in April 1975 with the launch of its first satellite, Aryabhata, aboard the Soviet Union’s Cosmos-3M launch vehicle.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, an early proponent of India’s space program, witnessed the launch and congratulated ISRO scientists and engineers as well as personnel from France and Japan for the successful launch of their satellites.

“Questions are sometimes asked about whether a poor country like India can afford a space programme and whether the funds spent on space exploration, albeit modest, could be better utilised elsewhere,” Singh said. “This misses the point that a nation’s state of development is finally a product of its technological prowess.”

Artist’s rendering of India’s Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft which went to the moon in 2008. (Photo: ISRO)

ISRO’s other key accomplishments include the Chandrayaan-1, India’s first unmanned lunar orbiter/probe, which was launched in 2008.  The spacecraft’s Moon Impact Probe was released from the orbiter and  sent to crash into the moon’s surface at the Shackleton Crater near the lunar South Pole.  The orbiter, meanwhile, circled the moon 3,400 times for 341 days, sending observational data back to Earth.

Looking to the future, the Indian space agency is planning a manned space flight program and another mission to the moon with its planned Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft, featuring a lunar lander/rover.

A few weeks ago, Prime Minister Singh, announced plans for one of its most ambitious projects yet, a mission to the Red Planet with the MangalYaan Mars orbiter.

Official NASA Apollo 11 portrait of Astronaut Neil A. Armstrong, commander of the Lunar Landing mission. (Photo: NASA)

Neil Armstrong, the first man to step onto the surface of the moon, died Saturday  from heart-surgery related complications. He was 82.

It was more than 40 years ago that Armstrong uttered the now-iconic words, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” forever sealing his place in history.

He spoke the words just before stepping onto the moon, effectively ending the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union.

Neil Alden Armstrong was born on Aug. 5, 1930 in Wapakoneta, Ohio. His love of flying began at age 2 when his father took him to the Cleveland Air Races.

Throughout his childhood, while his family moved from one small Ohio town to another, Armstrong’s interest in flying grew. He read countless fiction and non-fiction books on aviation.

After high school, Armstrong entered a special US Navy program that allowed him to complete his first year and a half at Purdue University before being called up for naval service where he flew a number of missions during the Korean War.

Test pilot Neil Armstrong with the rocket-powered X-15-3 aircraft (Photo: NASA)

Following his service in the US Navy, Armstrong earned a bachelor’s degree in aeronautical engineering and became an experimental research test pilot, flying a variety of airplanes and jets, including the famous X-15 rocket powered aircraft.

In June of 1962, Armstrong learned NASA was looking for its second group of astronauts.  He submitted his application, but it arrived about a week after the applications were due.  Fortunately for Armstrong, an old friend working at NASA’s Manned Spacecraft center saw his late-arriving application and slipped it into the group of applications being considered.

On Sept. 13, 1962,  Armstrong was invited to join NASA’s Astronaut Corps as part of   “the New Nine,” the next group of US astronauts following the original Mercury 7 astronauts.

Armstrong first flew into space on March 16, 1966, as command pilot for the two-man Gemini 8 mission. At the time, it was the most complex manned space flight attempted by NASA.  Gemini 8 was the first US space mission to rendezvous and dock with another spacecraft, an unmanned vehicle called the Agena.  Armstrong later served as a back-up command pilot for the Gemini 11 mission.

July 16, 1969 – Mission commander Neil Armstrong, command module pilot Michael Collins, and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin prepare to ride the special transport van to Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A where their Apollo 11 spacecraft awaited them. (Photo: NASA)

In April 1967, Armstrong was selected for  NASA’s Apollo program, placing him  among a group of astronauts bound for the moon.

After serving as back-up commander for Apollo 8, the mission that first orbited the moon in 1968, Armstrong was teamed up with fellow astronauts, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin and Michael Collins for the Apollo 11 mission, which put  the first man on the moon.

On July 16, 1969, Armstrong, – along with crewmates Aldrin and Collins – climbed into the space capsule, nicknamed Columbia. Powered by the monstrous Saturn V launch vehicle, Apollo 11 lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center for its 384,000 kilometer trip to the moon.

Four days later, on July 20, 1969, Armstrong and Aldrin took the lunar module known as the “Eagle,” for a trip from the orbiting command module to the surface of the moon.

About seven hours after the Eagle landed at the Sea of Tranquility, Armstrong  climbed down the Eagle’s ladder and onto the surface of the moon.

The world celebrated as they watched Armstrong and Aldrin do what most thought was impossible – walk on the moon.

Neil Armstrong on the lunar surface, taken by Buzz Aldrin, July 1969 (Photo: NASA)

After spending about 21 hours on the lunar surface, the Eagle left the moon to rendezvous with the command module for the trip back to Earth.  Apollo 11’s historic mission ended with a  splash into the North Pacific Ocean on July 24, 1969.

Shortly after the Apollo 11 flight, Armstrong announced  he would not return to space.

About a year after his history-making moment, Armstrong earned a master’s degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Southern California. He resigned from NASA in 1971.

After NASA, Armstrong taught  at the University of Cincinnati (Ohio), served on the board of directors of several major corporations and was chairman of the EDO Corporation, which designed and manufactured products  used in defense, intelligence, and commercial industries.  He retired from EDO in 2002.

Armstrong was selected to serve on panels investigating both the Apollo 13 accident in 1970 and, later, the 1986 space shuttle Challenger disaster.

A few weeks ago, Armstrong underwent surgery to relieve blocked coronary arteries. He died Saturday from complications related to the procedure surgery.

Buzz Aldrin, who piloted the Apollo 11 lunar module,  said of Armstrong’s passing, “I am very saddened to learn of the passing of Neil Armstrong today. Neil and I trained together as technical partners but were also good friends who will always be connected through our participation in the Apollo 11 mission. Whenever I look at the moon it reminds me of the moment over four decades ago when I realized that even though we were farther away from Earth than two humans had ever been, we were not alone.”

Video montage produced by NASA in 2009 for the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 trip to the moon and back.

A statement released by Armstrong’s family after his death, summed it up this way,  ”[he was a] reluctant American hero [and had] served his nation proudly, as a navy fighter pilot, test pilot, and astronaut… While we mourn the loss of a very good man, we also celebrate his remarkable life and hope that it serves as an example to young people around the world to work hard to make their dreams come true, to be willing to explore and push the limits, and to selflessly serve a cause greater than themselves.”

Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, Apollo 11 pilot, stands beside the US flag he and Neil Armstrong planted on the moon during the very visit by humans to the lunar surface (Photo: NASA)

Some of the most iconic moments in American history occurred when the Apollo astronauts planted U.S. flags on the lunar surface in the 1960s and 70s.

It’s been nearly 40 years since Apollo 17, the  final manned U.S. mission to the moon, left the last of six American flags on the its surface.

What happened to those flags, as well as other pieces of gear left by the Apollo astronauts, is apparently the source of endless fascination for a lot of people.

Image of the Apollo 17 landing site.  LRV in photo is the Lunar Roving Vehicle “Moon Buggy” (Image: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University)

Questions on the topic are among the most commonly asked of the  Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) mission, which recently took  photos of the lunar surface.

Those question have now been answered by high resolution images of the six Apollo landing sites taken by the mission’s Narrow Angle Cameras (NAC).

Images captured by the LROC cameras clearly show, not only the flags, but also the LEM descent stage, the lunar rovers and tracks left on the powdery lunar surface. The flags  are still standing, casting shadows on the moon.

“Personally, I was a bit surprised that the flags survived the harsh ultraviolet light and temperatures of the lunar surface, but they did,” blogged Mark Robinson, the principal investigator of the LROC mission. “What they look like is another question (badly faded?).”

Apollo 12 landing site. Notice the image also includes the Surveyor 3 unmanned spacecraft which landed on the moon April 20, 1967. (Image: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University)

Only the flag planted by the first men on the moon, Apollo 11’s Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin , is not erect.  Back when the two men took off from the lunar surface, Aldrin noticed  the flag was blown over by the exhaust from their  spacecraft’s  engine during liftoff.

To determine whether  the flags were still standing, the LROC team examined a timed series of images taken at different periods of the day, paying close attention to the shadows  circling the flags.

The  images  also captured other signs of the astronauts’ presence on the moon, such as the LEM descent stages of the lunar landers and various pieces of equipment  used for experiments or exploration.

Among them was the Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) or “moon buggy” as it was called, used during three Apollo  missions.

Also still there four decades later? Remnants of tracks marking where Armstrong and Aldrin took the first human steps on the moon.

Time lapse movie of a sequence of images highlighting the movement of the flag’s shadow at the Apollo 12 landing site. (Video: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University)

December 1972 - Apollo 17 Astronaut Eugene 'Gene' Cernan was the last human on the Moon (Photo: NASA)

A team of European scientists wants to send people back to the moon, ending the 40-year break from human lunar exploration.

The group not only wants to see a resumption of lunar exploration, but it recommends those efforts be dramatically stepped-up.

In a report to be published in “Planetary and Space Science,” the authors argue sending humans back to the moon, placing new scientific instruments on, and returning additional samples from the surface of the moon, will help us better understand the history of the Solar System, the origin and evolution of the Earth-Moon system, the geological evolution of rocky planets, and the near-Earth cosmic environment throughout Solar System.

The last time a human walked on the moon was during the Apollo 17 mission in December 1972.

The USSR's Luna 24 unmanned lunar explorer was the last to go and return from the moon in August 1976 (Image: NASA)

The scientists believe a renewed emphasis on exploration of the moon would also provide a number of research opportunities in astronomy, astrobiology, fundamental physics, life sciences, human physiology and medicine.

Over the past decade, there’s been something of a renaissance in lunar exploration. A number of unmanned spacecraft – from the European Space Agency (ESA), Japan, China, India and the U.S. – have orbited the moon, but none have performed a controlled landing on its surface.  The last spacecraft to touch down on the moon and return to Earth was Russia’s Luna 24 robotic mission in August 1976.

However, a portion of the US Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) and India’s Chandrayaan-1 Moon Impact Probe (MIP) were deliberately crashed into the moon’s surface in order to perform experiments required by their missions.

Although some of their objectives can still be achieved robotically,  the European science team says lunar exploration would benefit significantly from renewed human operations on the moon.

Artist Concept of the unmanned Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter currently orbiting and mapping the moon at 50 kilometers from lunar surface. (Image: NASA)

They recommend current and future non-manned lunar exploration missions be developed in the context of future human exploration, similar to what’s outlined in 2007’s Global Exploration road map which recommends an expansion of human presence throughout the Solar System and human exploration missions to the surface of Mars.

Following the framework of a 1992 study by the European Space Agency, the paper’s authors propose their lunar science objectives can logically be divided into three categories:

• Science of the moon (study of the moon itself)
• Science on the moon (studies that use the moon’s surface as a platform for experiments, not related to the moon itself.
• Science from the moon (using the lunar surface as a base to conduct astronomical observations).

Photo: NASA/JPL

Looking up at the Moon from our blue planet Earth, it’s hard to see anything other than a barren landscape.  Devoid of any life, it’s a visual study in dusty shades of gray.

But recently scientists from Case Western Reserve University, the Carnegie Institution for Science, and Brown University have found that parts of the Moon’s interior contains as much water as the upper mantle of the Earth, more than 100 times what was measured before.

Examining moon material brought back to earth back in 1972 by the US Apollo 17 mission, the researchers were able to find water along with other volatile elements such as fluorine, chlorine and sulfur.

One of the scientists involved with this discovery is James Van Orman, a professor of geological studies at Case Western Reserve in Cleveland, Ohio.  “These samples provide the best window we have to the amount of water in the interior of the Moon,” says Van Orman.  “The interior seems to be pretty similar to the interior of the Earth, from what we know about water abundance.”

This discovery seems to strengthen the theory that the Moon and Earth have a common origin but at the same time may force scientists to reconsider the current theory of the process: that a huge impact in Earth’s early history ejected material into orbit that became the Moon.

Published in the May 26 edition of Science Express, this finding is said to challenge previously made assumptions on how the Moon came to be and provides new clues into the process of lunar formation.