[NASA Press Release - 08.08.2007]
As space shuttle Endeavour and 10 million cinnamon basil seeds are set to launch on a mission to the International Space Station, NASA has opened registration for the Lunar Plant Growth
Chamber challenge.

Students participating in the challenge will design and build their own greenhouse chambers to analyze and study plant growth from the space-flown seeds following their return to Earth. Students will conduct classroom experiments that may help NASA find new ways to grow and sustain plants in space and on the moon - a critical need for future space exploration.

The Lunar Explorers Society will be present at this years Space Generation Congress (SGC) in Hyderabad, India. Together with the SGC, Lunex will organise a workshop called "Lunar Explorers Society", where we will look at how Lunex best can organise its upcoming role at the ICEUM9/ILC'07 conference in Sorrento, Italy. We will also invite the workshop participants to come with ideas for the future of Lunex; how we can improve our website, how we can recruit more members, etc.

[NASA Press Release - 03.08.2007]
August 3, 2007: Close your eyes, breath deeply, let your mind wander to a distant seashore: It's late in the day, and the western sun is sinking into the glittering waves. At your feet, damp sand reflects the twilight, while overhead, the deep blue sky fades into a cloudy mélange of sunset copper and gold, so vivid it almost takes your breath away.

A breeze touches the back of your neck, and you turn to see a pale full Moon rising into the night. Hmmm. The Moon could use a dash more color. You reach out, grab a handful of sunset, and drape the Moon with phantasmic light. Much better.

[NASA Ames Press Release - 20.07.2007]
Two NASA robots are surveying a rocky, isolated polar desert within a crater in the Arctic Circle. The study will help scientists learn how robots could evaluate potential outposts on the moon or Mars.

The robots, K10 Black and K10 Red, carry 3-D laser scanners and ground-penetrating radar. The team arrived at Haughton Crater at Devon Island, Canada, on July 12 and will operate the machines until July 31. Scientists chose the polar region because of the extreme environmental conditions, lack of infrastructure and resources, and geologic features. Additionally, Haughton Crater is geographically similar to Shackleton Crater at the South Pole of the moon. Both are impact craters that measure roughly 12.4 miles in diameter.

[JAXA Press Release - 20.07.2007]
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency would like to announce that we have decided to postpone the launch of the Lunar Orbit Explorer "KAGUYA" (SELENE) by the H-IIA Launch Vehicle No. 13 (H-IIA F13).

The launch was originally scheduled for August 16, 2007 (Japan Standard Time, JST.) The new launch date will be announced as soon as it is determined.

[Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press Release - 16.07.2007 ]
In the 40 years that humans have been traveling into space, the suits they wear have changed very little. The bulky, gas-pressurized outfits give astronauts a bubble of protection, but their significant mass and the pressure itself severely limit mobility.

Dava Newman, a professor of aeronautics and astronautics and engineering systems at MIT, wants to change that.

[NASA Press Release - 05.07.2007]
On July 20, the 38th anniversary of the first moon landing, NASA will host more than a dozen retired members of an engineering team that worked on the Apollo-era spacecraft that carried astronauts to the lunar surface. The engineers will share lessons learned with current NASA employees in the Constellation Program, which will return astronauts to the moon by 2020.

[NASA Ames Press Release - 21.06.07]
Someday, astronauts on the moon may pour liquid onto a disc-shaped mesh to make a huge mirror for a powerful telescope, according to a technical article just made public.

The liquid would include a silver-coated surface, and would be part of an optical-infrared telescope with a 66-foot (20-meter) to 328-foot (100 meter) aperture capable of observing objects 100 to 1,000 times fainter than the James Webb Space Telescope, the authors say. The technical paper will appear in the June 21, 2007, issue of the journal, Nature.

[NASA Press Release - 21.06.07]
NASA has selected proposals for future lunar science activities and established two new programs that will enhance research made possible by the Vision for Space Exploration.

The proposals and programs are part of an effort by NASA to develop new opportunities to conduct important science investigations during the planned renewal of human exploration of the moon.

[X-Price press release - 20.06.2007]
A real rocket race is on the horizon with the return of the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge (NG-LLC), the centerpiece of the Wirefly X PRIZE Cup and Holloman Air and Space Expo. In the Challenge's second year, the number of teams competing for the $2 million purse has increased from four teams to nine. The NG-LLC, sponsored by NASA's Centennial Challenges Program, is designed to accelerate commercial development of technology that can ferry cargo and humans between the moon's surface and lunar orbit.