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a new study suggests the accepted scenario is not possible given the amount of water found in moon rocks collected from the lunar surface in the early 1970s

By "water," the researchers don't mean liquid water, but hydroxyl, a chemical that includes the hydrogen and oxygen ingredients of water.

Those water-forming elements would have been on the moon all along

the impact scenario is the best formation scenario for the moon, but we need to reconcile the theory of hydrogen

Past studies have suggested water-forming elements came to the moon from outside sources long after the moon's crust cooled

The solar wind — a stream of particles emanating from the sun — as well as meteorites and comets were pegged as possible sources ofwater depositson the moon in recent studies

that explanation does not account for the amount of water found in the Apollo samples

Because they found hydroxyl deep inside each sampled rock, the scientists say they have eliminated the solar wind moon water explanation

those particles can penetrate the surface only slightly

An impact from an asteroid or comet could push the hydrogen in further, but it would not be as pristine as the samples the researchers observed, because it would have melted from the heat of the asteroid collision

Researchers probed samples from the late Apollo missions, including the famous "Genesis Rock" that was named for its advanced age of 4.5 billion years, about the same time the moon is thought to have formed

Using an infrared spectrometer, the researchers found water embedded in the Genesis Rock

implies that the various landing sites of Apollo 15, 16 and 17 each had water present

Hui's research flies in the face of past analyses of Apollo rocks that found they were very dry, except for a small bit of water attributed to the rock containers leaking when they were returned to Earth

Past instruments that analyzed these samples, however, were not very sensitive

older spectrometers had a sensitivity of around 50 parts per million (ppm), while his instruments were able to detect water at concentrations of about 6 ppm in anorthosites and 2.7 ppm in troctolites, which are both igneous rocks found in the moon's crust.

by extension, the solar system.

received an honorable mention in the 2012 International Science & Engineering Visualization Challenge

When they look at the moon, players are seeing what actually created those features

It makes moon observations more meaningful

Named for the Greek goddess of the moon, Selene works in two parts

In the first round, players aim asteroids of varying sizes, densities, and radiations so that they collide with one an

Too much force, and the rocks ricochet off one another

even if you overshoot your target, the gravity of the growing moon may tug just enough to pull the new piece into the pack

participants a chance to watch accretion in action

developing moon is constantly compared to the real-life one, and players strive to make as close a match as possible

After all of the small asteroids have melted together to form a smooth new moon, it's time to scratch up the surface

Players can aim asteroids of varying sizes at the body, and select areas where lava breaks through the crust

Because the accretion and surface-sculpting processes for the moon echo that of the rest of the planets, players also develop an understanding of how the early solar system formed

kids ages nine and up engage in the game, they build concrete knowledge that can be applied into any learning environment that they later experience, a process that serves to make learning more intuitive

Though the game is effective for high school and college students, and slanted to match the national standards for those age ranges

was more attractive to middle school students

One of the primary goals of Selene is to allow

team to analyze the learning process

means the game requires a login, and for minors, parental permission must be given.

analyzation takes time

able to provide a quick overview of my game play

can tell from looking at your data what your experiences were

That under-the-hood ability to study learning is why the project was so attractive in terms of funding to NASA and the National Science Foundation

d a prototype of the game was developed by CyGaMEs in May of 2007.

first version was released in 2010. But the game is constantly being improved as the understanding of the learning process grows

also looking at expanding it to mobile platforms in the near future.

recognition is of course a great honor and encouragement — but more importantly, may drive more players to the website so that we can collect more data

More players, of course, means more information that can be gathered about how participants learn

At the same time, more people can learn about how the moon formed, growing their understanding of the nearest celestial body.

http://selene.cet.edu/

near side of the moon,

, is quite different from the far side,

the moon's dark side (this side does in fact get sunlight — it simply never faces Earth

, widespread plains of volcanic rock called "maria" (Latin for seas) cover nearly a third of the near side, but only a few maria are seen on the far one.

hers have posed a number of explanations for the vast disparity between the moon's near and far sides. Some have suggested that a tiny second moon may once have orbited Earth before catastrophically slamming into the other moon, spreading its remains mostly on the moon's far side

Others have proposed that Earth's pull on the moon caused distortions that were later frozen in place on the moon's near side.

Mars' northern and southern halves are also stark contrasts from one another, and researchers had suggested that a monstrous impact may have been the cause

scientists in Japan say that a giant collision may also explain the moon's two-faced nature, one that gave rise to the Ocean of Storms

researchers analyzed the composition of the moon's surface using data from the Japanese lunar orbiter Kaguya/Selene

data revealed that a low-calcium variety of the mineral pyroxene is concentrated around Oceanus Procellarum and large impact craters such as the South Pole-Aitkenand Imbriumbasins.

type of pyroxene is linked with the melting and excavation of material from the lunar mantle, and suggests the Ocean of Storms is a leftover from a cataclysmic impact.

This collision would have generated "a 3,000-kilometer (1,800-mile) wide magma sea several hundred kilometers in depth

that collisions large enough to create Oceanus Procellarum and the moon's other giant impact basins would have completely stripped the original crust on the near side of the moon

crust that later formed there from the molten rock left after these impacts would differ dramatically from that on the far side

Some researchers had speculated that the Procellarum basin was the relic of a gigantic impact

this idea was hotly debated because there were no definite topographic signs it was an impact basin

neighboring Earth likely experienced similar-sized impacts around the same period

leading theory of how the moon formed 

it was created when a mysterious planet — one the size of Mars or larger — slammed into Earth

about 4.56 billion years ago, just after the solar system came together

new analyses of lunar rocks suggest that the moon, which likely coalesced from the debris blasted into space by this monster impact, is actually between 4.4 billion and 4.45 billion years old

make the moon 100 million years younger than previously thought, could reshape scientists' understanding of the early Earth

several important implications of this late moon formation that have not yet been worked out

, if the Earth was already differentiated prior to the giant impact, would the impact have blown off the primordial atmosphere that formed from this earlier epoch of Earth history

Scientists know the solar system's age (4.568 billion years) quite well

they can pin down the formation times of relatively small bodies such as asteroids precisely

by noting when these objects underwent extensive melting

a consequence,

of the heat generated by the collision and fusion of these objects' building-block "planetesimals."

analysis of meteorites that came from the asteroid Vesta and eventually rained down on Earth reveals that the 330-mile-wide (530 kilometers) space rock is 4.565 billion years old

Vesta cooled relatively quickly and is too small to have retained enough internal heat to drive further melting or volcanism

tougher to nail down the age of larger solar-system bodies

Earth likely took longer to grow to full size compared to a small asteroid like Vesta

every step in its growth tends to erase, or at least cloud, the memory of earlier events

Scientists keep getting better and better estimates

as they refine their techniques and technology improves. And those estimates are pushing the moon's formation date farther forward in time.

The moon is thought to have harbored a global ocean of molten rock shortly after its dramatic formation

Currently, the most precisely determined age for the lunar rocks that arose from that ocean is 4.360 billion years

here on Earth, scientists have found signs in several locations of a major melting event that occurred around 4.45 billion years ago

evidence is building that the catastrophic collision that formed the moon and reshaped Earth occurred around that time, rather than 100 million years or so before

strongly suggests that water has been a part of the Moon since its early existence – and perhaps since it was first created

2009 discovery of water on the moon

images show a very young lunar crater on the side of the moon that faces away from Earth

NASA's Moon Mineralogy Mapper on the Indian Space Research Organization's Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft

distribution of water-rich minerals (light blue) is shown around a small crater

2009, observations from three spacecraft showed signals of water across moon's surface

stream of charged hydrogen ions carried from the sun to the moon by the solar wind

might explain the possible presence of hydroxyl or water on the moon.

NASA's Mini-SAR instrument, which flew aboard India's Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, found more than 40 small craters with water ice. The craters range in size from 1 to 9 miles (2 to 15 km) in diameter. Although the total amount of ice depends on its thickness in each crater, it's estimated there could be at least 600 million metric tons of water ice. The red circles denote fresh craters; the green circle mark anomalous craters.

NASA's Mini-SAR instrument

aboard India's Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft

found more than 40 small craters with water ice

total amount of ice depends on its thickness in each crater

estimated there could be at least 600 million metric tons of water ice

the moon's permanently shadowed regions may hide stores of water

photo of the moon's south pole

January 2011 study suggested that water on the moon most likely came from comets that pelted the lunar surface after its formation

In October 2010, scientists reported that a frigid crater called Cabeus at the moon's south pole is jam-packed with water ice, with some spots wetter than Earth's Sahara desert

NASA's LCROSS probe discovered beds of water ice at the lunar south pole when it impacted the moon in October 2009. This visible camera image shows the ejecta plume at about 20 seconds after LCROSS's impact on the moon.

Recent studies have found vast amounts of water ice at or near the lunar surface. But the inside of the moon is bone dry, an August 2010 study found.

17 January – NASA announces that the Kepler space observatory has developed a reaction wheel issue

2 January A study by Caltech astronomers reports that the Milky Way Galaxy contains at least one planet per sta

3 January

8 January

20 January – Scientists prove that quadruple-helix DNA is present in human cells

25 January

An international team of scientists develops a functional light-based "tractor beam", which allows individual cells to be selected and moved at will. The invention could have broad applications in medicine and microbiology

30 January – South Korea conducts its first successful orbital launch

6 February

Astronomers report that 6% of all dwarf stars – the most common stars in the known universe – may host Earthlike planets

Scientists discover live bacteria in the subglacial Antarctic Lake Whillans

American scientists finish drilling down to the subglacial Lake Whillans, which is buried around 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) under the Antarctic ice

10 February NASA's Curiosity Mars rover uses its onboard drill to obtain the first deep rock sample ever retrieved from the surface of another plane

15 February A 10-ton meteoroid impacts in Chelyabinsk, Russia, producing a powerful shockwave and injuring over 1,000 people

28 February

Astronomers make the first direct observation of a protoplanet forming in a disk of gas and dust around a distant sta

A third radiation belt is discovered around the Eart

1 March – Boston Dynamics demonstrates an updated version of its BigDog military robot

3 March – American scientists report that they have cured HIV in an infant by giving the child a course of antiretroviral drugs very early in its life. The previously HIV-positive child has reportedly exhibited no HIV symptoms since its treatment, despite having no further medication for a year

researchers replace 75 percent of an injured patient's skull with a precision 3D-printed polymer replacement implant. In future, damaged bones may routinely be replaced with custom-manufactured implants

7 March

A study concludes that heart disease was common among ancient mummies

11 March

12 March NASA's Curiosity rover finds evidence that conditions on Mars were once suitable for microbial life after analyzing the first drilled sample of Martian rock, "John Klein" rock at Yellowknife Bay in Gale Crater. The rover detected water, carbon dioxide, oxygen, sulfur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, chloromethane and dichloromethane. Related tests found results consistent with the presence of smectite clay minerals

14 March CERN scientists confirm, with a very high degree of certainty, that a new particle identified by the Large Hadron Collider in July 2012 is the long-sought Higgs boson

18 March

NASA reports evidence from the Curiosity rover on Mars of mineral hydration, likely hydrated calcium sulfate, in several rock samples, including the broken fragments of "Tintina" rock and "Sutton Inlier" rock as well as in the veins and nodules in other rocks like "Knorr" rock and "Wernicke" rock.[177] Analysis using the rover's DAN instrument provided evidence of subsurface water, amounting to as much as 4% water content, down to a depth of 60 cm

27 March – A potential new weight loss method is discovered, after a 20% weight reduction was achieved in mice simply by having their gut microbes altered.

NASA scientists report that hints of dark matter may have been detected by the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer on the International Space Station

3 April

15 April A functional lab-grown kidney is successfully transplanted into a live rat in Massachusetts General Hospital

18 April – NASA announces the discovery of three new Earthlike exoplanets – Kepler-62e, Kepler-62f, and Kepler-69c – in the habitable zones of their respective host stars, Kepler-62 and Kepler-69. The new exoplanets, which are considered prime candidates for possessing liquid water and thus potentially life, were identified using the Kepler spacecraft

21 April The Antares rocket, a commercial launch vehicle developed by Orbital Sciences Corporation, successfully conducts its maiden flight

After years of unpowered glide tests, Scaled Composites' SpaceShipTwo hybrid spaceplane successfully conducts its first rocket-powered fligh

29 April

1 May IBM scientists release A Boy and His Atom, the smallest stop-motion animation ever created, made by manipulating individual carbon monoxide molecules with a scanning tunnelling microscope

A new study finds that children whose parents suck on their pacifiers have fewer allergies later in life

NASA reports that a reaction wheel on the Kepler space observatory may be malfunctioning and may result in the premature termination of the observatory's search for Earth-like

15 May

16 May Water dating back 2.6 billion years, by far the oldest ever found, is discovered in a Canadian mine

27 May Four-hundred-year-old bryophyte specimens left behind by retreating glaciers in Canada are brought back to life in the laboratory

29 May

Russian scientists announce the discovery of mammoth blood and well-preserved muscle tissue from an adult female specimen in Siberia

A new treatment to "reset" the immune system of multiple sclerosis patients is reported to reduce their reactivity to myelin by 50 to 75 percent

4 June

During the Shenzhou 10 mission, Chinese astronauts deliver the country's first public video broadcast from the orbiting Tiangong-1 space laboratory

20 June

China's Shenzhou 10 manned spacecraft returns safely to Earth, having conducted China's longest manned space mission to date

26 June

20 June

20 June

6 July

Scientists report that a wide variety of microbial life exists in the subglacial Antarctic Lake Vostok, which has been buried in ice for around 15 million years. Samples of the lake's water obtained by drilling were found to contain traces of DNA from over 3,000 tiny organisms

15 July

ASA engineers successfully test a rocket engine with a fully 3D-printed injector

19 July

NASA scientists publish the results of a new analysis of the atmosphere of Mars, reporting a lack of methane around the landing site of the Curiosity rover

Earth is photographed from the outer solar system. NASA's Cassini spacecraft releases images of the Earth and Moon taken from the orbit of Saturn

29 July – Astronomers discover the first exoplanet orbiting a brown dwarf, 6,000 light years from Earth

exoplanet

7 January

Astronomers

report that "at least 17 billion" Earth-sized exoplanets are estimated to reside in the Milky Way Galaxy

20 February

NASA reports the discovery of Kepler-37b, the smallest exoplanet yet known, around the size of Earth's Moon

10 June

Scientists report that the earlier claims of an Earth-like exoplanet orbiting Alpha Centauri B, a star close to our Solar System, may not be supported by astronomical evidence

25 June – In an unprecedented discovery, astronomers detect three potentially Earthlike exoplanets orbiting a single star in the Gliese 667

11 July For the first time, astronomers determine the true colour of a distant exoplanet. HD 189733 b, a searing-hot gas giant, is said to be a vivid blue colour, most likely due to clouds of silica in its atmosphere

NASA announces that the failing Kepler space observatory may never fully recover. New missions are being considered

15 August

Phase I clinical trials of SAV001 – the first and only preventative HIV vaccine – have been successfully completed with no adverse effects in all patients. Antibody production was greatly boosted after vaccination

3 September

12 September NASA announces that Voyager I has officially left the Solar System, having travelled since 1977

NASA scientists report the Mars Curiosity rover detected "abundant, easily accessible" water (1.5 to 3 weight percent) in soil samples

26 September

In addition, the rover found two principal soil types: a fine-grained mafic type and a locally derived, coarse-grained felsic type

mafic

as associated with hydration of the amorphous phases of the soi

perchlorates, the presence of which may make detection of life-related organic molecules difficult, were found at the Curiosity rover landing site

earlier at the more polar site of the Phoenix lander) suggesting a "global distribution of these salts

Astronomers have created the first cloud map of an exoplanet, Kepler-7b

30 September

8 October The Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to François Englert and Peter Higgs "for the theoretical discovery of a mechanism that contributes to our understanding of the origin of mass of subatomic particles, and which recently was confirmed through the discovery of the predicted fundamental particle, by the ATLAS and CMS experiments at CERN's Large Hadron Collider"

16 October Russian authorities raise a large fragment, 654 kg (1,440 lb) total weight, of the Chelyabinsk meteor, a Near-Earth asteroid that entered Earth's atmosphere over Russia on 15 February 2013, from the bottom of Chebarkul lake.

Researchers have shown that a fundamental reason for sleep is to clean the brain of toxins. This is achieved by brain cells shrinking to create gaps between neurons, allowing fluid to wash through

17 October

22 October – Astronomers have discovered the 1,000th known exoplanet

4 November - Astronomers report, based on Kepler space mission data, that there could be as many as 40 billion Earth-sized planets orbiting in the habitable zones of sun-like stars and red dwarf stars within the Milky Way Galaxy

11 billion of these estimated planets may be orbiting sun-like stars

5 November – India launches its first Mars probe, Mangalyaan

The IceCube Neutrino Observatory has made the first discovery of very high energy neutrinos on Earth which had originated from beyond our Solar System

21 November

1 December – China launches the Chang'e 3 lunar rover mission, with a planned landing on December 16

3 December – The Hubble Space Telescope has found evidence of water in the atmospheres of five distant exoplanets: HD 209458b, XO-1b, WASP-12b, WASP-17b and WASP-19b

9 December NASA scientists report that the planet Mars had a large freshwater lake (which could have been a hospitable environment for microbial life) based on evidence from the Curiosity rover studying Aeolis Palus near Mount Sharp in Gale Crater

12 December NASA announces, based on studies with the Hubble Space Telescope, that water vapor plumes were detected on Europa, moon of Jupiter

14 December – The unmanned Chinese lunar rover Chang'e 3 lands on the Moon, making China the third country to achieve a soft landing there

18 December

nomers have spotted what appears to be the first known "exomoon", located 1,800 light years away

20 December – NASA reports that the Curiosity rover has successfully upgraded, for the third time since landing, its software programs and is now operating with version 11. The new software is expected to provide the rover with better robotic arm and autonomous driving abilities. Due to wheel wear, a need to drive more carefully, over the rough terrain the rover is currently traveling on its way to Mount Sharp, was also reported

is NASA's Apollo 17 moon rover, which was driven by astronauts Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt in 1972

22.3 miles (35.89 km) during their mission, which was the last moon landing of NASA's Apollo program.

bronze medal for space driving goes to NASA's Mars rover Opportunity,

driving across the plains of Meridiani Planum on the Red Planet since 2004

Opportunity has driven more than 22.03 miles (35.46 km) and is still going today.

The latest to enter the race is Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity, which is just getting started with only 0.4 mile (0.7 km) traveled so far.

the first time a view of the two Martian satellites — called Phobos and Deimos — eclipsing each other has been captured from the vantage point of the planet's surface

researchers are studying the images to refine their knowledge of the orbits of Phobos and Deimos

ultimate goal is to improve orbit knowledge enough that we can improve the measurement of the tides Phobos raises on the Martian solid surface

Phobos' orbit is taking it closer to the surface of Mars very slowly

Deimos may gradually be getting farther and farther away from the planet

Phobos is just 14 miles (22 kilometers) wide on average, while Deimos is even smaller

But Curiosity was able to spot both of them because they orbit

3,700 miles (6,000 km) in Phobos' case and 12,470 miles (20,070 km) for Deimos

Earth's moon

a diameter of about 2,160 miles (3,475 km)

farther away — its average distance is 239,000 miles (384,600 km)

Phobos appears half as big in the sky to Curiosity as Earth's moon does to human skywatchers

Earth's moon

equivalent to conditions 300 miles (480 kilometers) above Earth

one oxygen ion for every 2,550 cubic feet (90,000 cubic meters

still enough to qualify as an atmosphere

announced Friday (March 2).

Dione, in addition to Saturn's rings and the moon Rhea, is a source of oxygen molecules

shows that molecular oxygen is actually common in the Saturn system and reinforces that it can come from a process that doesn't involve life

Dione is one of Saturn's smaller moons

698 miles (1,123 km) wide

orbits Saturn once every 2.7 days

distance of about 234,000 miles (377,400 km)

roughly the same as that between Earth and its moon

The oxygen on Dione may potentially be created by solar photons or high-energy particles that bombard the Saturn moon's ice-covered surface, kicking up oxygen ions in the process, Tokar explained.  Another idea suggests that geologic processes on Dione could feed the moon's atmosphere, researchers added.

atmosphere on Saturn's moon Rhea — one similar to that of Dione — was also detected in 2010

Dione was discovered in 1684 by astronomer Giovanni Cassini

named after the Greek goddess Dione, who the ancient Greek poet Homer described as the mother of the goddess Aphrodite

launched the Cassini mission in 1997 and it has been orbiting Saturn since its arrival at the ringed planet in 2004

joint effort by NASA and the space agencies of Europe and Italy, has been extended several times, most recently until 2017

In September 2032, the European spacecraft will arrive at Ganymede, becoming the first probe to enter orbit around the moon of another planet

Equipped with radar, a mapping camera and other instruments, JUICE will measure the thickness of global ice sheets covering Jupiter's moons and produce terrain and mineral maps of Ganymede

Russia's plan is to implement a Ganymede Lander

Russian mission planners initially proposed the lander to target Europa, another of Jupiter's moons with a frozen crust thinner than the ice cap covering Ganymede

After a NASA mission to orbit Europa never materialized, Russia retooled the project to focus on Ganymede, falling in line with the goals of Europe's Jupiter mission

advantages of landing on Ganymede as opposed to Europa

The radiation environment at Ganymede is less severe than at Europa, which lies closer to Jupiter

this is one of the reasons ESA picked Ganymede as the destination for JUICE

Russian scientists say mapping and reconnaissance of Ganymede are required before any attempted landing

If Russia becomes a full partner in Europe's JUICE mission, the development of the lander will need to be accelerated to launch in 2022, if managers want the Russian craft to ride to Jupiter as a piggyback payload.

Instead of ice, later researchers chalked up the observations to piles of rubble.

NASA's Lunar Prospector found possible water in 1998 at both of the moon's poles, but the instrument was only able to detect the presence of hydrogen, not other elements

Then in 2008, new lab work on Apollo lunar samples found hydrogen in lunar volcanic glasses

in September 2009, however, three spacecraft orbiting the moon found "unambiguous evidence" of water on the lunar surface

in November 2009, however, scientists for the Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) mission announced the spacecraft had found large deposits of ice at the moon's south pole

Scientists then discovered a trove of ice in the south pole's Shackleton Crater in 2012

also had nitrogen, methane, and carbon dioxide

density is quite high, it is suspected that it has a large core of silicate rock

possible that a liquid ocean could have formed between the rocky core and icy surface shell

Triton has a unique property among large solar system moons; it has a retrograde orbit

planets and their moons must also orbit in this same direction

Planets form from a circumstellar disc of dust and gas

These orbits are known as prograde

retrograde orbit of Triton means that it most likely did not form around Neptune.

Triton likely originated in the Kuiper Belt, beyond the orbit of Neptune, and was sent hurtling inwards until it was captured by Neptune's gravity

Directly after capture, the moon would have been in a highly elliptical, eccentric orbit

This type of orbit would have raised large tides on the moon, and the friction of these tides would have caused energy to be lost

energy loss is converted into heat

melt some of the icy interior and form an ocean beneath the ice shell

energy loss from tides is also responsible for gradually changing Triton's orbit from an ellipse to a circle

there

also radiogenic heating. This is heat that is caused by the decay of radioactive isotopes within a moon or planet, and this process can create heat for billions of years

Radiogenic heating contributes several times more heat to Triton's interior than tidal heating

this heat alone is not sufficient to keep the subsurface ocean in a liquid state over 4.5 billion years

One model of Triton’s interior. 70 to 80 percent rock (1), with the remainder being water ice (2) and an outer layer of methane and nitrogen ice (3). This is also believed to be the general interior configuration for the ice dwarf Pluto. Credit: Wikipedia

The exact point in time when Triton was captured by Neptune, along with the length of the time it took the orbit to become circularized are unknown

orbit is currently almost exactly circular

the exact size of Triton's rocky core is unknown

“Yutu suffered a control circuit malfunction in its driving unit,” according to a newly published report on March 1 by the state owned Xinhua news agency.

prevented Yutu from entering the second dormancy as planned

A functioning control circuit is required to lower the rovers mast

They must be folded down into a warmed electronics box to shield them from the damaging effects of the Moon’s nightfall when temperatures plunge dramatically to below minus 180 Celsius, or minus 292 degrees Fahrenheit.

The panel driving unit also helps maneuver the panels into position to efficiently point to the sun to maximize the electrical output

Chinese space engineers engaged in troubleshooting to try and identify and rectify the technical problems in a race against time to find a solution before the start of Lunar Night 3.

The 140 kilogram rover was unable to move during Lunar Day 3 due to the mechanical glitches.

“Yutu only carried out fixed point observations during its third lunar day

it did complete some limited scientific observations. And fortunately the ground penetrating radar, panoramic and infrared imaging equipment all functioned normally.

Yutu and the companion Chang’e-3 lander have again gone into sleep mode during Lunar Night 3 on Feb. 22 and Feb 23 respectively, local Beijing time.

the issue with the control circuit malfunction in its driving unit remains unresolved and a still threatens the outlook for Yutu’s future exploration.

Yutu is now nearing its planned 3 month long life expectancy

The most unique thing about the 2014-2015 tetrad is that all of them are visible for all or parts of the USA

On average, lunar eclipses occur about twice a year, but not all of them are total.  There are three types

A penumbral eclipse is when the Moon passes through the pale outskirts of Earth’s shadow.  It’s so subtle, sky watchers often don’t notice an eclipse is underway

A partial eclipse is more dramatic.  The Moon dips into the core of Earth’s shadow, but not all the way, so only a fraction of Moon is darkened.

A total eclipse, when the entire Moon is shadowed, is best of all.  The face of the Moon turns sunset-red for up to an hour or more as the eclipse slowly unfolds.

Usually, lunar eclipses come in no particular order

Occasionally, though, the sequence is more orderly. When four consecutive lunar eclipses are all total, the series is called a tetrad.

During the 21st century, there are 9 sets of tetrads

a frequent occurrence in the current pattern of lunar eclipses

During the three hundred year interval from 1600 to 1900, for instance, there were no tetrads at all

Why red?

Imagine yourself standing on a dusty lunar plain looking up at the sky. Overhead hangs Earth

nightside down, completely hiding the sun behind it. The eclipse is underway

As you scan your eye around Earth's circumference, you're seeing every sunrise and every sunset in the world, all of them, all at once

This incredible light beams into the heart of Earth's shadow, filling it with a coppery glow and transforming the Moon into a great red orb.

More information about the lunar eclipse may be found on NASA's eclipse home page

The three crewmembers are slated to spend a total of 15 days in orbit, which would make their Shenzhou 10 mission the longest manned spaceflight in China's history.

According to a statement from the China National Space Administration, the nation carried out a 40-day ground test to mimic the lunar environment, in an attempt to make sure that Chang’e 3 can endure the extreme temperatures on the moon

Chang'e 3 lunar probe consists of two main parts: a service module and a lunar landing vehicle

Dragon in Space, a website that monitors China's space program

the mission will be launched this December

The probe would land softly on the moon’s surface and deploy a six-wheeled rover to explore the areas surrounding the landing spot

Ready to watch the Chinese moon landing and rover action from above is NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO

Looking further into the future, China's step-by-step robotic moon effort also includes a return to Earth of lunar surface materials

head of the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and chief scientist of the lunar exploration program, said some lunar materials would be scooped up from the moon’s surface, while other material would be acquired from a depth of about 6.6 feet (2 meters).

Pluto's other moons are Charon, Nix, Hydra and P4. Charon is by far the largest, measuring 648 miles (1,043 kilometers) across. Nix and Hydra range between 20 and 70 miles (32 to 113 km) wide, while P4 is thought to be 8 to 21 miles (13 to 34 km) across. 

concern about hazards is going up," he added, referring to the collision risk New Horizons will face when it cruises by Pluto in a few years

provisionally named S/2012 (134340) 1, though it's also going by the moniker P5