The Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) has survived its third week-long night on the moon. This is despite the fact the Japanese lunar lander wasn’t designed to withstand even one blisteringly cold night on the moon, during which temperatures dropped as low as minus 274 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 170 degrees Celsius). The Japan Aerospace […]
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Between 1969 and 1972, the Apollo missions sent a total of a dozen astronauts to the surface of the moon — and that was before the explosion of modern technology. So why does it seem like our current efforts, as embodied by NASA’s Artemis program, are so slow, halting and complex? There isn’t one easy […]
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A pair of small experimental satellites have begun tests related to future lunar communication and navigation services for China’s moon ambitions. The Tiandu-1 and Tiandu-2 satellites launched toward the moon along with the Queqiao-2 lunar communications relay satellite on a Long March 8 rocket on March 19. The latter spacecraft will support a major mission […]
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Chris Carberry is CEO of Explore Mars, Inc. and author of “The Music of Space” and “Alcohol in Space.” Joe Cassady is Director, Civil Space at L3Harris as well as Executive VP of Explore Mars, Inc. They contributed this article to Space.com’s Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. The United States appears to be entering the […]
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Add Switzerland to the list! Swiss Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin joined NASA administrator Bill Nelson Monday (April 15), at the space agency’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., to become the latest country to sign on to the agency’s Artemis Accords for moon exploration. “Today, we marked a giant leap forward in the partnership between the United […]
Read MoreNASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) snapped a perfectly timed photo as it crossed paths with another spacecraft orbiting the moon. The LRO, which has been orbiting the moon for 15 years, captured several images of the Korea Aerospace Research Institute’s Danuri lunar orbiter as the two spacecraft, traveling in nearly parallel orbits, zoomed past each […]
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Over 4.2 billion years ago, the moon turned itself inside out to create the lunar surface that has become familiar to humanity. Most scientists would agree the moon was created around 4.5 billion years ago, when another massive body in the solar system smashed into Earth, flinging molten material into space that coalesced as our […]
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COLORADO SPRINGS — Astrobotic’s next moon mission will send not one but two rovers to Earth’s nearest neighbor. The Pittsburgh-based company plans to launch the first-ever mission of its Griffin moon lander atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket late this year. Griffin’s main job is to deliver NASA’s ice-hunting VIPER rover to the lunar south […]
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The White House has tasked NASA with creating a new time zone for the moon by the end of 2026, as part of the United States’ broader goal to establish international norms in space. The direction to set up a lunar time zone comes amid growing global interest for humanity to establish a long-term presence […]
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Photo: Javier Zayas Photography (Getty Images) On April 8, a total solar eclipse will pass over North America, beginning at various times depending on your state and time zone, with the moon completely blocking out the sun for around 4 minutes. Science attributes this phenomenon to our planet’s orbit around the sun and rotation. However, […]
Read More Photo: Javier Zayas Photography (Getty Images) On April 8, a total solar eclipse will pass over North America, beginning at various times depending on your state and time zone, with the moon completely blocking out the sun for around 4 minutes. Science attributes this phenomenon to our planet’s orbit around the sun and rotation. However, […]
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