Apollo to the Moon is a display at the National Air & Space Museum of the Smithsonian, dedicated to telling the history of human exploration of the moon by the United States. The Web site places the history of space travel within the context of the political environment, including the Cold War. The Space Race with Russia and the beginning of NASA are also discussed in detail, along with the...

The Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) has created a digital version of the Lunar Orbiter Photographic Atlas of the Moon, published in 1971 and considered "the definitive reference manual to the global photographic coverage of the Moon." The site includes all 675 plates contained in the original work, digitally enhanced to increase photo quality. Visitors can view images by feature name, listed...

Tentatively set for a July 2003 launch, the Smart-1 spacecraft will host Europe's first lunar mission. A news article from the BBC outlines the objectives of this pioneering mission. The Smart-1 is incorporating many new technologies and testing them for the first time in space. One of the most notable is the ion thruster, but several other novel items used in the Smart-1, if successful, will end...

First, researchers at the University of California, San Diego discuss the importance of studying earthquakes on the moon, also known as moonquakes, and the Apollo Lunar Seismic Experiment (1). Users can discover the problems scientists must deal with when collecting the moon's seismic data. The students at Case Western Reserve University created the second website to address three missions the...

In 1971, hundreds of tree seedlings germinated aboard NASA's Apollo 14 mission to the moon. A few years later, they were planted around the nation, often with much fanfare. However, no one kept a systematic record of these plantings, and as a result, the whereabouts of most of the trees remains a mystery. Visitors can read or listen to an account of the history and current status of them at this...

Scientists at the 30th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference held March 15-19, 1999 in Houston, Texas, have presented support for the theory that the "bulk of the Moon was ripped away from the early Earth when an object the size of Mars collided with the Earth." Analysis of data collected from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Lunar Prospector spacecraft has supported...

Scientists at the 30th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference held March 15-19, 1999 in Houston, Texas, have presented support for the theory that the "bulk of the Moon was ripped away from the early Earth when an object the size of Mars collided with the Earth." Analysis of data collected from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Lunar Prospector spacecraft has supported...

Humans have been to the moon numerous times, but the United States is gearing up to do so again with the creation of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) mission. With a launch date of October 31, 2008, the goal of the LRO is to obtain "data that will facilitate returning humans safely to the Moon and enable extended stays.� On this site, visitors can learn all of the excellent details about...

Readers interested in high-quality images of the moon may appreciate the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC), which has been in operation since 2009. This project describes itself as a "system of three cameras mounted on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) that capture high resolution photos of the lunar surface." Visitors may like to begin with LROC's Images section, where they will...

Working together with NASA's Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, the Arizona State University's School of Earth & Space Exploration has created this marvelous digital collection of photographs and information from Project Mercury. This was the first human spaceflight program of the United States, and it ran from 1959 to 1963. The goal of the program was to put a human in orbit around the Earth, which...