2007

January 1

Dr. Fred Tarantino is appointed the new President of USRA.

 

February 1

The University of Arizona Press, in collaboration with LPI, publishes Protostars and Planets V, a Space Science Series volume.

 

July 22–29

Earth's Extremophiles: Implications for Life in the Solar System is held at Yellowstone National Park. The purpose of this field-based workshop for science educators is to investigate the geologic processes that result in extreme environmental conditions and the environments themselves.

 

September 14
The Japanese Space Agency (JAXA) launches the Kaguya (SELENE) lunar orbiter mission. The major objectives of the mission are to understand the Moon’s origin and evolution and to observe the Moon in various ways in order to utilize it in the future.

 

September 27
NASA’s Dawn spacecraft launches. By exploring asteroids Ceres and Vesta, the goal of Dawn’s journey is to “travel” back in time over 4.5 billion years to the beginning of our solar system in an effort to understand planetary formation.

 

October 10

LPI launches its new Lunar Science and Exploration website. Spearheaded by Dr. David Kring, this web-based information portal provides the lunar science and exploration community with access to everything “lunar,” from the earliest Apollo-era documents to the most recent lunar research reports.

 

October 24
China’s first lunar orbiter, Chang’e 1, launches. The mission is designed to obtain stereo images of the lunar surface, analyze elements on the surface, and explore the environment between the Moon and Earth.