Lunar rovers

The white arrow at the center of the image points to the Odysseus lunar lander on the surface of the Moon.Image: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State UniversityFollowing a less-than-perfect touchdown, the Odysseus lander has been spotted from lunar orbit while lying on its side on the surface of the Moon. The lunar lander also beamed back its first images from the Moon as it fights to stay alive before it runs out of power.First Full-Color Images From Webb Space TelescopeNASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) captured images of the…

Japan’s SLIM, the Smart Lander for Investigation Moon, has entered a dormant mode on the Moon’s Shioli Crater, facing a 14-day lunar night with temperatures dropping below -200 degrees Fahrenheit.China's Plan to Land Astronauts on the MoonNight has fallen at Shioli Crater, and that means it’s likely the end of the line for SLIM. The lander has been placed into a hibernation mode from which it’s not expected to wake. But that doesn’t mean Japan’s space agency, JAXA, won’t try to revive the project in a couple of weeks.…

NASA’s diligent lunar orbiter transmitted a laser beam to a dome-shaped aluminum device the size of a billiard ball on India’s Vikram lander, pinging its location on the Moon. This laser-enabled technique could one day help NASA astronauts find their way on the lunar surface.Moon Knight Gives Us HopeThe Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) pointed its laser altimeter instrument, called LOLA, toward a tiny retroreflector on Vikram, the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) lunar lander, on December 12, 2023 at 3 p.m.…

India’s third mission to the Moon is all set for liftoff, carrying the country’s hopes of safely landing on the lunar surface nearly four years after a failed first attempt. China's Plan to Land Astronauts on the MoonThe Chandrayaan-3 mission is scheduled for launch on Friday, July 14 at 5:05 a.m. ET (2:35 p.m. local time) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre. The lunar lander will ride on board India’s Launch Vehicle Mark-3(LVM3) rocket, and its launch will be broadcast live.You can tune in to the live feed through the…

India’s space agency is getting ready to launch its latest mission to the Moon, hoping this one will stick the landing on the lunar surface.China's Plan to Land Astronauts on the MoonThe Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) will launch the Chandrayaan-3 mission on July 14 at 5:05 a.m. ET. The mission will liftoff from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on board India’s Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (LVM3) rocket, according to ISRO. Chandrayaan-3 is India’s third mission to the Moon and the country’s second attempt to land on the…

In late April, a privately-owned Japanese lunar lander failed in its attempt to land on the Moon, crashing on the lunar surface to never be heard from again. Although we may not have seen the lander’s final moments, NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) captured an overhead view of the spacecraft’s crash site, revealing the point of impact surrounded by scattered debris.Astronomers Could Soon Get Warnings When SpaceX Satellites Threaten Their ViewOn April 26, LRO captured a series of ten images around the estimated…

Following Tuesday’s failed attempt to land on the surface of the Moon, Japan’s ispace said its lunar lander may have unexpectedly accelerated on its way down before crashing on the lunar surface.Astronomers Could Soon Get Warnings When SpaceX Satellites Threaten Their ViewThe Hakuto-R Mission 1 lander (M1) was scheduled to touchdown on the Moon on April 25 at 12:40 p.m. ET. “Shortly after the scheduled landing time, no data was received indicating a touchdown,” ispace wrote in a statement. “ispace engineers monitored the…

Tokyo-based company ispace appears to have failed in its attempt to land its lunar lander on the surface of the Moon, which would have made it the first private mission to land on the dusty lunar surface.Astronomers Could Soon Get Warnings When SpaceX Satellites Threaten Their ViewThe Hakuto-R Mission 1 (M1) lander was scheduled to land on the lunar surface on Tuesday at 12:40 p.m. ET. The lander was targeting a landing site at the Moon’s Atlas crater in the far northern hemisphere called Mare Frigoris, also known as the…

On April 3, NASA announced the crew for Artemis II, which will see astronauts spending up to three weeks on a flyby trip to the moon in 2024. This mission will be the first time in more than 50 years that humans will visit the moon—or leave low Earth orbit—since Apollo 17 in 1972. And a Canadian will be onboard this milestone mission: astronaut Jeremy Hansen.China's Plan to Land Astronauts on the MoonI am a professor, an explorer and a planetary geologist. For the past decade, I have been helping to train astronauts from…

China’s plan to reach the widely coveted lunar south pole—where NASA hopes to touch down in 2025 with Artemis 3—has been disrupted by a decades-old U.S. trade law. The International Traffic in Arms Regulations, or ITAR, has seemingly prevented the 2026 Chang’e 7 mission from including UAE’s Rashid 2 rover.Astronomers Could Soon Get Warnings When SpaceX Satellites Threaten Their ViewThe South China Morning Post reported on the shakeup last week, citing two anonymous sources familiar with China’s mission. Rashid 2 would…