These Failed Missions to the Moon Remind Us That Space Is Hard
The Apollo 13 Saturn rocket being rolled out to the launch pad in 1970.Photo: NASAFor millennia, our species looked at the Moon as a place that would forever be beyond our reach, but 20th-century technologies finally made our natural satellite accessible to probes, landers, and even human explorers. Despite these achievements, however, the Moon has furiously resisted our overtures, as these lamentable historical episodes attest.In August 1958, some six months after the launch of the first U.S. satellite, the Air Force!-->!-->…