Year of the Comet
Comet C/2011 L4 (PANSTARRS)

PANSTARRS information

Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON)

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Web Extras

Return to the Moon

NASA has developed detailed plans for sending humans back to our nearest celestial neighbor.
By Richard Talcott
Published: June 22, 2009
If all goes according to plan, humans will once again walk on the Moon in 2020 or soon thereafter. Fifty years after Apollo opened the lunar surface to human exploration, NASA will return with equipment that superficially resembles the Apollo hardware. Yet the new systems — dubbed "Apollo on steroids" by some — take advantage of decades worth of technological advances. Make no mistake: These won't be your father's Moon missions.
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