This month marks the 40th anniversary of humankind's first steps on the moon. Auspiciously timed is Craig Nelson's new book, Rocket Men--one of the most detailed accounts of the period leading up to the first manned moon mission. Here, we have ten little-known Apollo 11 facts unearthed by Nelson during his research. picked by kakana 4 months ago

On December 24t, 1968, Apollo 8 Orbited The Moon for the first time, carrying Frank Borman, James Lovell and William Anders where no man had gone before. Boldly. picked by pocksucket 11 months ago

The pictures show the Apollo missions' lunar module descent stages sitting on the moon's surface, as long shadows from a low sun angle make the modules' locations evident. Also visible are the tracks left by the wheelbarrow like carrier used on Apollo 14 picked by equinox 4 months ago

Were these strange objects during the Apollo missions film faults or flying saucers? picked by AutumnLotus 4 months ago

A plan to photograph the historic lunar locations with NASA's new Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) should be a boon to lunar archaeologists who aim to solve some longstanding mysteries and also get a historic-landmark designation for the Apollo 11 touchdown site. picked by AutumnLotus 4 months ago

Moon rocks delivered to Earth by Apollo astronauts held a mystery that has plagued scientists since the 1970s: Why were the lunar rocks magnetic?

Earth's rotating, iron core produces the planet's magnetic field. But the moon does not have such a setup. picked by AutumnLotus 10 months ago

Water has been found conclusively for the first time inside ancient moon samples brought back by Apollo astronauts. The discovery may force scientists to rethink the lunar past and future, although uncertainty remains about how much water exists and whether future explorers could extract it. picked by AutumnLotus 1 year ago

It’s exactly forty years ago today that Neil Armstrong took man’s first step on the moon.

And to mark the historic occasion Google Earth has taken the same leap in cyberspace.

The search engine leader today launched Moon in Google Earth, an interactive 3D atlas of the moon which allows space fans to take their very own virtual steps on the surface of our closest satellite. picked by AutumnLotus 4 months ago

NASA have gone back to set used for the photos taken by the Apollo missions, and released them in high definition, zoomy form.

Apparently more to follow when they have been successfully faked cleaned up picked by pocksucket 2 years ago

How and why did the "Right Stuff" Went Wrong? America was pumping their chests with pride after the Apollo 11 moon landing. Everyone envisioned that exploration of Mars and beyond would be right around the corner. Alas it was not to be. Why? Article is based on this and this. picked by 2manyusernames 4 months ago

Thursday, May 31 brings us the second of two full Moons for North Americans this month. Some almanacs and calendars assert that when two full Moons occur within a calendar month, that the second full Moon is called the "Blue Moon." picked by AutumnLotus 3 years ago

When they were renovating, there was chalkboard behind the ones they removed with the lesson still on it:
"Apollo 10 is on the way to the moon. It has three astronauts aboard . . . They will look closely at the moon . . . They will splash down on Sunday" COOL
NOTE: WE NEED AN EDUCATION CATEGORY! picked by moe 2 years ago

In a survey, which reveals "deeply worrying" levels of ignorance about the Apollo space program,
~11 out of 1009 people surveyed thought Buzz Lightyear was the first person to step onto the moon.
~A further 8 people thought it was Louis Armstrong.
~Over a quarter of all people do not believe the astronauts actually landed on the moon. picked by Bingo 5 months ago

Forty years ago, the Apollo 8 astronauts, the first humans to orbit the Moon, were taken by surprise. After three orbits spent photographing the lunar surface, Frank Borman shifted the orientation of the capsule to see the horizon. Suddenly, Bill Anders realized he was seeing the home planet hovering over the lunar horizon in what was, in essence, the first human-witnessed “Earthrise.” picked by muppet 11 months ago

July 20, 1969: Neil Armstrong makes his famous step onto the lunar surface, making the US 'win' the Space Race.

Or was it all a hoax? picked by TheStep 3 years ago

It's been 40 years since Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins launched into space in Apollo 11, with the historic moon landing occurring four days later. The technology involved in getting a man on the moon was amazing, and several of those developments are now commonplace back here on Earth. Here are our favorite technologies inspired by the space program. picked by kakana 4 months ago

Google has released a new version of Google Moon, their program that allows you to explore the moon on a map or satellite image. This update has higher-resolution imagery, text search, photos and stories from every Apollo landing. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

Very interesting article about how NASA decided to tackle the moon landing, and how they actually practiced it. picked by Ankabout 6 months ago

Oh my lord! All these years we've laughed and scorned people for thinking that the moon landing was faked. Now new, incontrovertible evidence proves that we never made it to the moon! picked by 2manyusernames 1 year ago

Observations from NASA’s Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) have revealed that the youngest known pulsing neutron star has thrown a temper tantrum. The collapsed star occasionally unleashes powerful bursts of X-rays, which are forcing astronomers to rethink the life cycle of neutron stars. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago