Moon landings were not a hoax, confirms evidence from lunar orbiter

October 8th, 2009 Moon crashing probes complete major milestoneWASHINGTON — NASA's moon probe has separated into two pieces as planned, a major milestone toward a Friday morning double-barreled crash into the lunar surface. The smaller probe with five cameras and four other scientific instruments is now trailing behind a 2.2-ton empty rocket hull.

September 24th, 2009 LONDON - The discovery of water on the moon by Indian maiden lunar craft Chandrayaan-1 is just the breakthrough international space scientists were waiting for in order to kick start the moon exploration programme again, the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) said Thursday. This is a massively impressive accomplishment, RAS Secretary Martin Barstow, a leading British astronomer, told IANS after American scientists made the stunning announcement that the Indian mooncraft had sent evidence of water on the lunar surface.

September 19th, 2009 LONDON - Two separate lunar missions have found evidence which indicates that the polar regions of the moon are chock full of water-altered minerals. According to a report in Nature News, early results from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), launched on June 18, are offering a wide array of watery signals.

September 17th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The element hydrogen - a key ingredient in water - is more widespread than expected at the moon's south pole, scientists said Thursday. NASA scientists announced the first data sent back to Earth from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), a satellite that will spend the next year making the most detailed maps yet of the moon's surface to prepare for man's eventual return.

September 2nd, 2009 PANAJI - In a considerable downer for space conspiracy theorists, Chandrayaan-1's terrain-mapper camera has recorded images of the landing site of US spaceship Apollo 15 and tracks of its lunar rovers that were used by astronauts to travel on moon's surface nearly four decades ago, a scientist said Wednesday. Prakash Chauhan of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said the images captured by the hyper-spectral camera on board Chandrayaan-1 debunked conspiracy theories that have claimed that the Apollo 15, the fourth US mission to land on the moon was a hoax.

August 26th, 2009 LONDON - A joint collaboration between India's Chandrayaan-1 and NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which are orbiting the moon, could turn up evidence for valuable lunar water. Some scientists suspect water ice, which would be a precious resource for future explorers, may be trapped in permanently shadowed craters at the moon's poles.

August 21st, 2009 BANGALORE - India's first lunarcraft Chandrayaan-1 Friday conducted a joint experiment with Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) of the US's National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to trace presence of ice in a dark crater near the North Pole of the moon, the Indian space agency said. "The unique bi-static experiment was carried out jointly when Chandrayaan and Orbiter came closer while orbiting over the lunar North Pole where the permanently shadowed crater is located," the state-run Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said in a statement here.

July 17th, 2009 New NASA photos show Apollo leftovers on the moonWASHINGTON — New NASA photos of the moon show the leftovers from man's exploration 40 years ago. For the first time, photos from space pinpoint equipment left behind from Apollo landings, and even the well-worn tracks made by astronauts on the moon surface.

July 3rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, has transmitted its first images from the Moon, since reaching lunar orbit on June 23. The spacecraft has two cameras - a low resolution Wide Angle Camera and a high resolution Narrow Angle Camera.

June 24th, 2009 NASA's new moon probe sends back moon shotsCAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA's new lunar probe launched less than a week ago has already sent back some shots of the moon.

June 23rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, has successfully entered orbit around the moon after a four and a half day journey from the Earth. Engineers at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, confirmed the spacecraft's lunar orbit insertion at 6:27 a.m.

June 23rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - NASA will take a giant step toward bringing humans back to the moon Tuesday as a new orbiting satellite arrives there to search for water. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) is expected to reach the moon's orbit at 0943 (GMT).

June 18th, 2009 NASA launches unmanned moon shot, first in decadeCAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA launched its first moon shot in a decade Thursday, sending up a pair of unmanned science probes that will help determine where astronauts could land and set up camp in years to come.

June 15th, 2009 LONDON - The Moon is all set to get its very own neighborhood watch, in the form of a scouting probe due to launch on June 17, which will make upcoming trips to the moon that little bit safer. Killer space radiation and meteorite impacts are just a few of the pleasures that await astronauts venturing onto the lunar surface as part of NASA's return to the moon, planned for the 2020s.

May 22nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - US space agency NASA has said it is ready to send two missions to the moon in a launch next month that will set the course for the resumption of human lunar exploration. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) are to launch aboard a single rocket June 17.