Is NASA attempting to hide evidence of secret moon bases, secret space program, or that moon trips never took place? These are the explanations of a number of different conspiracy theorists since this announcement made the papers.

According to a report in The Hindu newspaper, No-fly zones will come into effect on the moon for the very first time by the end of this month! Why, even buffer zones that spacecraft may have to avoid will come into existence.

The supposed official reason: avoiding any spraying of rocket exhaust or dust onto certain historical sites and artefacts on the moon.

The historical sites are of course the Apollo landing sites and artefacts present on the moon. And the “recommendations” are for preserving and protecting these historical sites. There are currently more than three dozen historical sites that preserve the more than four-decade-old remains.

“Apollo 11 and 17 sites [will] remain off-limits, with ground-travel buffers of 75 metres and 225 metres from each respective lunar lander,” states the July 20 guidelines of NASA. Science journal had obtained the guidelines.

According to Science, by the end of this month NASA is expected to come up with a set of “recommendations” for spacecraft and astronauts visiting the “U.S. government property on the moon.” Of course, these recommendations will not be legally binding as the 1967 Outer Space Treaty makes it clear that the lunar surface has no owner.

Despite the lack of ownership, NASA is hopeful that other countries will respect the U.S. sentiments. Incidentally, the restriction list contains more than the historical sites. For instance, the list includes studying discarded food and abandoned astronaut faeces.

Read more HERE

Over the past several days the net has been buzzing over the images claimed to have been taken by the NASA SOHO cameras which show a round object entering the frame as it was looking at the sun.

People have wondered whether this was an unknown planet, Planet X or perhaps a UFO.

Unfortunately a bit of investigation into this video produces the truth. It was the moon.

The first evidence comes from the camera used and the satellite it came from. People have been claiming that this is from the SOHO EIT 304 satellite. Looking at the video, it is clear that this footage was taken from the SDO spacecraft. The AIA 304 (The Atmospheric Imaging Assembly) is a SOD imagery camera on the SDO (Solar Dynamics Observatory) satellite. (See SDO website for more details)

Adding to the evidence, according to the SOHO website, the cameras were offline during the period this film was taken. In fact the camera’s are STILL offline.

At the time the picture was taken, and calculating the Keplerian elements for both the SDO satellite and the moon, it is clear that the moon passed between the SDO satellite and the sun.

It is no wonder that NASA has not commented on something which can be easily checked and verified!

It looks like everyone is racing to get robots on the moon. Recently we heard that NASA will attempt to send a ‘humanoid’ up in as little as 100 days. Now we hear of Japan getting in on the act. China is also rumoured to be gearing up for one too.

If an Osaka-based business group known as known as the Space Oriented Higashiosaka Leading Association (SOHLA) has its way, there will be a humanoid robot on the moon by the year 2015.

Maido-kun is a wheeled humanoid and the newest in a long line of metallic wonders coming from a nation enamored with robots. This one is designed to function in the harsh lunar environment where it is thought that wheels may prove more practical than legs.

“Humanoid robots are glamorous, and they tend to get people fired up. We hope to develop a charming robot to fulfill the dream of going to space,” said SOHLA board member Noriyuki Yoshida.

Since 2005, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has had plans to send robots to the moon with the target date somewhere in 2015, but they were at first concentrating on robots with two legs. Wheels began to seem more feasible for navigating along the lunar landscape.

Source: WeirdAsiaNews

The idea of a space elevator has been around since the late 1800′s, but despite big dreams and years of research, the low-cost, easy access to orbit that a space elevator promises is likely still decades away. The biggest problem rests on the fact that no one has been able to successfully manufacture long ribbons made of ultra-light, ultra-strong carbon nanotubes, the only known material that is strong enough for a space elevator. But entrepreneur Michael Laine believes a lunar elevator – a space elevator from the surface of the Moon – could be created with materials that are available now. With more research and the right amount of capital, Laine says a lunar elevator could be built within a decade.

While Laine said he is still “emotionally very invested” in the concept of a space elevator based on Earth, for now he has shifted his focus to the lunar elevator. “There was a question of where was I going to put my time,” he told Universe Today, “and being able to do this soon – perhaps within 5-7 years and not some mythic 15-25 years in the future is enticing.”

Since the Moon’s gravity is only one sixth that of Earth, it drastically reduces the requirements of the ribbon. A material that is available now, a synthetic polymer material called Zylon (poly(p-phenylene-2,6-benzobisoxazole) which has high strength and excellent thermal stability, could be used.

Additionally, the components to build the elevator that would be sent to the Moon would be relatively lightweight, so a smaller rocket would do the job. “The physical requirements of the system look like you could use a standard Atlas or Delta rocket to launch the components.” Laine said. “That’s a big deal that you don’t need to build something like a Saturn V.”

Read the article here: Universe Today