BryLog

Spectacular Mars Images Reveal Evidence of Ancient Lakes (via ScienceDaily)

Spectacular satellite images suggest that Mars was warm enough to sustain lakes three billion years ago, a period that was previously thought to be too cold and arid to sustain water on the surface, according to research published in the journal Geology.

Rocket Smash Could Find Moon’s Water Ice (via ScienceDaily)

Crashing a rocket into the Moon will create “one more dimple” on the lunar surface and could find water ice on Earth’s nearest neighbour, according to a Durham University expert.

The Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) and its Centaur rocket will smash into a crater in the Cabeus region of the Moon’s South Pole next week. Impact has been timed for approximately 12.30 pm BST (4.30 am PDT) on Friday, October 9.

Approximately 350 tonnes of material will be propelled into the sunlight so scientists can study its composition using ground-based telescopes….

‘Trash Can’ Nuclear Reactors Could Power Human Outpost On Moon Or Mars (via ScienceDaily)

NASA has made a series of critical strides toward the development of new nuclear reactors the size of a trash can that could power a human outpost on the moon or Mars.  Three recent tests at different NASA centers and a national lab have successfully demonstrated key technologies required for compact fission-based nuclear power plants for human settlements on other worlds…..

The speech Safire wrote for Nixon if Apollo 11 astronauts were stranded on the moon (via BoingBoing)

It’s Official: Water Found on the Moon (via space.com, NY Times)

Since man first touched the moon and brought pieces of it back to Earth, scientists have thought that the lunar surface was bone dry. But new observations from three different spacecraft have put this notion to rest with what has been called “unambiguous evidence” of water across the surface of the moon.

The new findings, detailed in the Sept. 25 issue of the journal Science, come in the wake of further evidence of lunar polar water ice by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and just weeks before the planned lunar impact of NASA’s LCROSS satellite, which will hit one of the permanently shadowed craters at the moon’s south pole in hope of churning up evidence of water ice deposits in the debris field.

The moon remains drier than any desert on Earth, but the water is said to exist on the moon in very small quantities. Finding water on the moon would be a boon to possible future lunar bases, acting as a potential source of drinking water and fuel.

340-million-pixel vista of the Milky Way (via ScienceDaily)

Patterns In Mars Crater Floors Give Picture Of Drying Lakes (via ScienceDaily)

Superb vistas from reborn Hubble (via BBC News)