THE MOON IS MOVING AWAY FROM THE EARTH !!!

What you just read is very true, the moon is movie away from the earth. Calculations show that the distance between and the moon is increasing but not particularly much, it just increasing just a couple of centimeters per year. The distance between the earth and the moon is around 384,000 - 400,000 km, so thus it would take billions of years to notice the difference. Scientist believes that the main reason for the moon moving away is, that the earth's gravity gets transmitted (naturally) to the moons path.
If the moon would theoretically just leave us, is would just bring darker nights and decreased time water.

Source: Illustrated Science no 8 2002

Astronomers want to send a space ship to study Pluto

NASA astronomers have the desire of sending a space probe to the furthest planet in the solar system, namely PLUTO. Scientists have been working hard for years preparing their journey to Pluto. Pluto is today the only planet, which has not been visited with a space probe. The couple of last years, NASA has been preparing the program called New Horizons, which is basically the trip to Pluto. According to their arrangements, a little probe will be sent to Pluto 2006, and will arrive 2015 at Pluto after a journey of nine years. Astronomers say that they are now in a rush, because Pluto is moving away from the sun all the time, and the temperature is going to decrease that much that the thin atmosphere of nitrogen and methane, is going to frees into ice. Because of that astronomers want to study Pluto's atmosphere, it is a hurry to reach there. Astronomers have calculated and have noticed that Pluto's atmosphere would be frozen around 2020.

A idea of NASA's Pluto-Kuiper Express:

Because of a lack of money, NASA scientists have proposed a low-cost investigation mission to Pluto called ”Pluto-Kuiper Express". The main reason of the mission will be to gather atmospheric and surface data for both Pluto and Charon. This would be done with two high-speed spacecraft that would fly by the Pluto-Charon system. The mission goal is to reach Pluto around 2010 - 2015. A date for the Pluto/Charon mission is still under planning.. Spacecraft has never explored Pluto. The Pluto/Charon Flyby mission would give humans the first ever close-up views of Pluto and Charon. If the Pluto/Charon part of the mission is successful, it may be increased to visit an asteroid sized object in the Kuiper Disk.

Source: Illustrated Science no 8 2002

 

 

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