Tag: Moon

NASA’s Artemis Moon Missions Update

Steve Hurley3 Comments

Updated 30 November 2025 A lot has happened since I wrote a  post back in June 2025 about the Artemis programme. At the time it looked like America would be landing astronauts on the Moon in mid-2027. However in October, concerned by delays in SpaceX’s Starship HLS, the NASA Acting Administrator Sean Duffy revealed that… Continue reading NASA’s Artemis Moon Missions Update

How Libration Reveals some of the Moon’s Far Side

Steve Hurley4 Comments

Many people think that the whole of the Moon’s far side is entirely hidden from view. This isn’t quite true. There is a region around the boundary between the near and far sides which is sometimes visible due to a phenomenon called libration. Libration causes the Moon to appear to wobble from side to side and… Continue reading How Libration Reveals some of the Moon’s Far Side

Lunar Stationary Orbits: Why They are Impossible

Steve Hurley9 Comments

A friend of mine recently asked me whether it was possible to have a lunar-stationary orbit. This would be the equivalent of a geostationary orbit, but around the Moon rather than the Earth.   To an observer on the Moon, a lunar-stationary satellite would appear fixed in the sky and if a dish were pointed… Continue reading Lunar Stationary Orbits: Why They are Impossible

Latitude and Longitude on the Moon and the Planets

Steve Hurley9 Comments

Revised 18 December 2025 We're all familiar with specifying a location by its latitude and longitude, but I thought it would be interesting to write a post about latitude and longitude on other bodies in the Solar System. Locations on the surface of the Moon are given a latitude and longitude just like they are… Continue reading Latitude and Longitude on the Moon and the Planets

Twilight and the Long Summer Evenings

Steve Hurley13 Comments

For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere we're in that time of year when there is the most daylight. In this post I’ll talk about the long long summer evenings: not only does the Sun set later at this time of year but the amount of twilight, after Sun has set but it is… Continue reading Twilight and the Long Summer Evenings