Lunar Forums and Anniversaries

By Nancy Atkinson - July 20, 2010 at 6:34 AM UTC | Planetary Science
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I'm attending the NASA Lunar Science Institute's Lunar Forum at Ames Research Center in California, which will feature sessions on recent scientific results as well as talks on future opportunities for lunar science, education and outreach. Notably, there will be new results from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, LCROSS and more. If you'd like to know more about the Forum, I did a

365 Days of Astronomy podcast

for NLSI to preview some of the highlights of the Forum, and talked with with Greg Schmidt, the Deputy Director of the NASA Lunar Science Institute, and Doris Daou, the Institute's Director for Education and Public Outreach.

Click here to download the podcast

(or listen on the little embedded player at the bottom of this post).

Or see the 365 Days of Astronomy webpage here.

I'll try to report as much news as I can, although my real mission here is to interview the lunar scientists for more NLSI/365 Days podcasts.

It's fitting that the Lunar Forum is held this week: Forty-one years ago today, one of the most important events in American history unfolded on the surface of the Moon as the Apollo 11 lunar module, the Eagle, settled down on the landing site, Mare Tranquillitatis (Sea of Tranquility) at 00.67408 °N latitude, 23.47297 °E longitude. That's an image of the Apollo 11 landing site above, as seen by LRO. So, happy Giant Leap Day!

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com