NASA Teases 'Exciting New Discovery' About Moon

KEY POINTS

NASA will reveal a new discovery about the moon from the airborne SOFIA observatory
The new findings will be shared at a media teleconference Monday at 12 p.m. EDT
NASA said the discovery contributes to its "efforts to learn about the moon in support of deep space exploration"

Space enthusiasts should mark their calendars because NASA just announced that it'll be sharing an "exciting new discovery" about the moon next week.

In a statement on the NASA website, the space agency said that it will reveal "new science results" about Earth's natural satellite from the airborne Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) during a media teleconference scheduled for Monday.

During the briefing, scientists will share what is said to be a discovery that'll come in handy in NASA's Artemis program — which aims to send the first woman and the next man to the moon by 2024 to prepare for human exploration on Mars in the 2030s.

"[The] new discovery contributes to NASA's efforts to learn about the moon in support of deep space exploration," the agency stated.

NASA also took to its official Twitter account to invite everyone to participate in the upcoming event set for 12 p.m. EDT Monday. Audio of the teleconference will be available for streaming on NASA's website.

🗓️ Mark your calendars: We will be revealing a new discovery about the surface of the Moon from our airborne @SOFIATelescope observatory, and YOU are invited.

✏️ Pencil us in for 12pm ET on Monday, Oct. 26! To participate: https://t.co/gzfTK43snB pic.twitter.com/HHNXOAYfMh
— NASA (@NASA) October 22, 2020

With NASA aiming to send humans back to the moon, the discovery may prove crucial, especially since the space agency is planning to build a lunar base in the future.

Once the Artemis program succeeds in its objective to bring humans back to the lunar surface, it'll then move on to its next big, and perhaps more risky, target — Mars.

Experts who will participate in the upcoming briefing include Jacob Bleacher, chief exploration scientist for the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate at NASA’s Headquarters, suggesting that the scientific findings to be revealed are connected to the agency’s plans to go back to — and live on — the lunar surface.

Aside from Bleacher, the teleconference will be attended by Paul Hertz, astrophysics division director at NASA Headquarters; Casey Honniball, postdoctoral fellow at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center; and Naseem Rangwala, project scientist for the SOFIA mission.

SOFIA is an aircraft built to carry a 106-inch telescope that is used to study the solar system and other transient events. Flying high into the stratosphere, SOFIA is designed to observe the infrared universe and has since made discoveries and observations which wouldn't be possible with the use of ground-based telescopes.