Google Lunar X Prize

The Peregrine lunar lander is coming back home to die. Astrobotic’s shiny gold spacecraft is on a trajectory towards Earth, where it is expected to burn up in the planet’s atmosphere to conclude its tragic demise.China's Plan to Land Astronauts on the MoonPeregrine has been operational for more than a week, and the spacecraft is stable and responsive, according to Astrobotic. With zero chance of it being able to land on the Moon, however, the company has decided to terminate the mission. In an update shared on Saturday…

Photo: David JosephSometimes, a moment is so fleeting or a scene is so small that not even the fiercest squint can capture it.Thankfully, that’s where cameras—and the photographers that wield them—come in. Today, the winners and finalists of the fifth Close-up Photographer of the Year competition are revealed. Showcasing nature at its smaller scales, the awarded images—selected from nearly 12,000 entries—offer an intimate look at the animal kingdom, fungi, and the remarkable planet that we call home. - Isaac Schultz Read…

Tragically, Astrobotic’s lander will not be able to pull off a soft landing on the lunar surface. However, Peregrine continues on its trajectory to the Moon, and as a small consolation, its onboard payloads have successfully powered on.China's Plan to Land Astronauts on the MoonIn a series of updates shared on X, Astrobotic announced that it successfully powered up 10 payloads on board Peregrine and received data from all nine payloads designed to communicate with the lander.The instruments that have turned on so far…

The Peregrine lander has less than a day to live, and the company behind the spacecraft may have figured out why its mission was doomed shortly after its launch. China's Plan to Land Astronauts on the MoonAstrobotic is blaming a faulty valve for Peregrine’s critical fuel loss, which made its soft landing on the Moon unachievable, the Pittsburgh-based company shared in its most recent update on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday. The 2,829-pound (1,283-kilogram) Peregrine lander launched on Monday on board United Launch…

The dreaded announcement arrived yesterday in a tweet, with Astrobotic admitting that, as a result of a catastrophic propellant leak, there’s “no chance of a soft landing on the Moon.” Mission specialists are scrambling to salvage what they can, but the much-hyped Peregrine-1 lunar mission is effectively over, with a faulty valve being the likely culprit.China's Plan to Land Astronauts on the MoonUnited Launch Alliance launched the Astrobotic-developed Peregrine lander aboard its Vulcan Centaur rocket on January 8. This…

Astrobotic, the team behind the Peregrine spacecraft, is urgently working to extract any possible value from its failing mission. This comes after a catastrophic propellant leak occurred just after yesterday’s launch, ending the spacecraft’s attempt to land on the Moon.China's Plan to Land Astronauts on the MoonThe 2,829-pound (1,283-kilogram) Peregrine lander reached space early yesterday, after the picturesque inaugural launch of United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur rocket. Following orbital insertion, Astrobotic,…

An upcoming launch will usher in a new era of commercial payloads being dropped off to deep space destinations like the Moon. As we gain greater access to space, things are going to start getting weird.China's Plan to Land Astronauts on the MoonOn Monday, Astrobotic’s long-awaited Peregrine lunar lander will blast off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying government and commercial payloads to the Moon. The lander is packed with a host of scientific instruments from NASA, a swarm of tiny robots from Mexico, and even a…

Astrobotic’s Peregrine is gearing up for a chance to land on the Moon, hoping to become the first commercial lunar lander to touchdown on the dusty surface of the celestial body and pave the way for other private ventures to follow.China's Plan to Land Astronauts on the MoonThe lunar lander will ride on board United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur, which is scheduled for liftoff on Monday, January 8, at 2:18 a.m. ET from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The historic launch will be broadcast live on NASA Television, the NASA app,…

Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander is slated to blast off on Monday, January 8, carrying an assortment of goodies, including cutting-edge scientific rovers, bitcoin, and a piece of Mount Everest. No doubt, this ain’t your grandfather’s Moon mission, as the era of commercial space deliveries is now upon us.China's Plan to Land Astronauts on the MoonThe Moon will never be the same, thanks to a NASA-funded initiative meant to foster a new era of lunar exploration and enable private companies to deliver stuff to the lunar…

A second stage engine destined for Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Epsilon S rocket exploded during a test on Friday, spewing fire and smoke, and severely damaging the test facility, located in Noshiro, Akita Prefecture, in northeastern Japan. It’s yet another setback for Japan’s suddenly-floundering spaceflight industry. Finding Uhura’s Confidence in Strange New Worlds | io9 InterviewThe explosion occurred at JAXA’s testing site, Reuters reported based on a statement by an official at Japan’s Education, Science and…