Essay: US Moon landing marks new active phase of lunar science, with commercial launches of landers that will study solar wind and peer into the universe’s dark ages
JACK BURNS, professor of astrophysical and planetary sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder, looks at how the latest Moon landing – the first by the US since the Apollo missions – is being used to advance scientific study…
US achieves first Moon landing in half century with private spacecraft
Updated: 5:30pm (AEDT) Reuters A spacecraft built and flown by Texas-based company Intuitive Machines landed near the Moon’s south pole on Thursday, the first US touchdown on the lunar surface in more than half a century and the first ever achieved by the private sector. NASA, with several research instruments aboard the vehicle, hailed the […]
Essay: Japan is now the fifth country to land on the Moon – the technology used will lend itself to future lunar missions
International affairs scholar MARIEL BOROWTIZ, of the Georgia Institute of Technology, looks, in an article first published on The Conversation, at Japan’s achievement…
Japan’s SLIM Moon craft short on power after successful lunar landing
Tokyo, Japan Reuters Japan on Saturday became the fifth country to put a spacecraft on the Moon, but solar power issues threatened to cut short the nation’s mission to prove a “precision” landing technology and revitalise a space program that has suffered setbacks. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said its Smart Lander for Investigating […]
Russia’s Luna-25 spacecraft enters lunar orbit – space agency
Moscow, RussiaReuters Russia’s lunar spacecraft entered the moon’s orbit on Wednesday, a major step towards the country’s ambition of being the first to land on the moon’s south pole in the search for frozen water. A picture taken from the camera of the lunar landing spacecraft Luna-25 during its flight to the Moon shows the […]
Russia launches lunar lander in race to find water on Moon
Moscow, RussiaReuters Russia launched its first Moon-landing spacecraft in 47 years on Friday in a bid to be the first nation to make a soft landing on the lunar south pole, a region believed to hold coveted pockets of water ice. The Russian lunar mission, the first since 1976, is racing against India, which launched […]
Origins: 65 years of NASA – an astrophysicist reflects on the agency’s legacy
Astrophysicist STEPHEN G ALEXANDER pays tribute, in an article first published on The Conversation, to NASA’s 65 year legacy…
Space jam? Companies risk clutter, conflict in race for the skies
LondonThomson Reuters Foundation Half a century after astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first man on the Moon, a new space race is underway to exploit the skies for commercial profit. Tech giants and startups pursuing bold plans such as selling space tourism, mining asteroids and beaming giant adverts into the skies are winning millions in […]
Astronauts hailed as heroes 50 years after historic Moon landing
Cape Canaveral, FloridaReuters Capping a week of celebrations over the historic Apollo 11 mission, Vice President Mike Pence joined astronaut Buzz Aldrin on Saturday at the launch pad in Florida that sent the Moonwalker and his two crew mates to space for humankind’s first steps on the lunar surface 50 years ago. Pence joined NASA […]
RELIGION IN SPACE: FROM APOLLO 8 TO SPACE IL – HOW SPACE TRAVELLERS HAVE TAKEN THEIR FAITH BEYOND THE EARTH
EMILY MCFARLAN MILLER and JACK JENKINS, writing for Religion News Service, look at how Earth’s space explorers have expressed their faith in space…