Now that the August 2009 issue of Astronomy is in the mail or already in hand, we’ve updated Astronomy.com with our newest web extras to give subscribers exclusive complementary information to this special issue about our return to the Moon. Take a sneak peek inside the August 2009 Astronomy magazine . If you subscribe to Astronomy , make sure you’re registered with Astronomy.com so you can access these great extras. Here are this issue's highlights...

If all goes as planned, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) will launch from Cape Canaveral either Thursday or Friday, depending on the launch of space shuttle Endeavour. Brown University professor and LRO researcher Michael Wyatt is at the launch site, and starting today, Wyatt will share his impressions of this historic mission — the opening maneuver in the United States return to the Moon — with all of you. Thanks, Michael! We'll post Michael's...

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Mars Exploration Program web site has a fun new feature — Ask Dr. C, “your personal Mars expert.” You can type in a simple question — the simpler, the better — and get a pretty good answer. A computer program tries to match your question with an extensive database of responses. The real Dr. C is Phil Christensen , a planetary scientist at Arizona State University. Christensen is the Principal Investigator for the 2001...

Megacorps are practically lining up for the privilege of disseminating fantastic volumes of astronomical images to you, John and Jane Q. Public. Recently Google added a “Live from Mars” function to its 3-D visualization of Mars within Google Earth. The feature allows you to see images from the Mars Odyssey spacecraft. Now Microsoft says it will let you explore images from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO, pictured at right) within its web-based...

Richard Greenberg, a professor of planetary sciences at the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, is an expert in celestial mechanics and carries out NASA-sponsored investigations of solar system evolution and planet formation. He is also author of the current book Unmasking Europa . After NASA and the European Space Agency chose Jupiter’s moons — including Europa — as the next destination for a major planetary exploration mission...

“There is an ocean beneath the icy crust of Jupiter’s moon Europa [pictured at right]. Strange creatures could be swimming in these alien waters, but so far no missions have been sent there to investigate this possibility.” So begins, " Hoping for Europa ," an article by Astrobiology magazine Editor Leslie Mullen. Squids from outer space — who could resist? Or will it be a balloon ride over the windblown surface of a hydrocarbon lake on...

With all the talk of financial bailouts in these, shall we say, fiscally distressed times, I can’t be the only one wondering how NASA will fare in the new administration. When I saw the photo of the lunar rover rolling past the Presidential bandstand in the inaugural parade, I couldn’t help but wonder if the driver was sitting there with his fingers crossed, fervently mumbling, “Oh, please please please keep those NASA greenbacks flowing, Mr. President...

A NASA panel has just released a detailed report revealing the last moments of the space shuttle Columbia and its seven-member crew, lost February 1, 2003, on reentry. You can download the 400-page report, “Columbia Crew Survival Investigation Report." The cause of the accident has been clear since soon after the disaster: A piece of insulating foam struck the leading edge of one of the orbiter’s wings. During reentry, searing hot gases entered...

Many phases of the Moon ago — more than 200 — I came under the spell of earth science and wrote a lot about it for a number of years. This week, some of that ancient knowledge came back to visit as I gazed at a fantastic 28-image mosaic of Saturn’s moon Enceladus. You may see crusty cracked ice; I see the outlines of ice continents. At the American Geophysicial Union meeting in San Francisco this week, the halls are abuzz with talk of plate tectonics...

I just received a media advisory from James Oberg, a contributor to Astronomy and noted space historian. And I learned something new — something historic. Something I’m a little embarrassed I didn’t know. It appears that many video producers continue to misrepresent Neil Armstrong’s comments the day he stepped onto the Moon (that's Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin pictured at right). Oberg explains it best: The National Geographic Channel is running...