Moon

Launching Mass From the Moon Helped by Lunar Gravity Anomalies

Placing a mass driver on the Moon has long been a dream of space exploration enthusiasts. It would open up so many possibilities for the exploration of our solar system and the possibility of actually living in space. Gerard O’Neill, in his work on the gigantic cylinders that now bear his name, mentioned using a …

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NASA unveils three teams to compete for crewed lunar rover demonstration mission

NASA awarded contracts for three companies and their teams to move into the feasibility phase of developing options for a Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV). Renderings: Intuitive Machines, Lunar Outpost, Astrolab NASA selected three companies to move forward with developing crewed, unpressurized rovers capable of operating on the Moon’s South Pole on Wednesday. Intuitive Machine’s Moon …

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Live coverage: Intuitive Machines aims to become first commercial lander to safely reach the Moon

Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lander named Odysseus cruises over the near side of the Moon on Feb. 21, 2024, a day ahead of its scheduled landing attempt. Image: Intuitive Machines In a day not seen since the Dec. 11, 1972, a lander built in the United States could safely reach the surface of the Moon. Houston-based …

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Intuitive Machines’ Moon lander Odysseus reaches lunar orbit

A image of Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lander named ‘Odysseus’ captured by one of the spacecraft’s onboard cameras. Image: Intuitive Machines Achieving a successful lunar landing becomes increasingly more tangible for the team at Intuitive Machines with each passing day since launch. On Wednesday, the Houston-based company announced that it was able to place its robotic …

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Live coverage: SpaceX, Intuitive Machines to launch first Moon mission from LC-39A since 1972

Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lander, named ‘Odysseus,’ displayed prior to encapsulation inside a pair of SpaceX Falcon 9 payload fairings. Image: SpaceX A launch pad billed as the Apollo program’s “Moonport” is once again preparing to send off a mission bound for the Moon. More than 50 years after Apollo 17, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket aims …

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Three robotic missions target Moon landings over one week in January

Intuitive Machines engineers loading the IM-1 mission Nova-C lunar lander into its custom container in Houston, TX. Image: Intuitive Machines In a blend of interesting circumstances and happenstance, two private companies and Japan’s space agency are all poised to land on the Moon in the back half of January 2024. The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency …

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Astrobotic’s Peregrine lander arrives in Florida ahead of Christmas Eve Moon-bound launch

Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander in the clean room at Astrotech in Titusville, Florida. The spacecraft will be the main payload onboard the first launch of ULA’s Vulcan rocket. Image: ULA The first payload teed up for NASA’s industry-led missions to the Moon has arrived in Florida. Astrobotic announced on Halloween that its Peregrine lunar lander …

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Intuitive Machines targets launch to the Moon in mid-January

The completed Nova-C lander for the IM-1 mission is photographed in mid-October at Intuitive Machines’ facilities in Houston, Texas, ahead of it being shipped to Cape Canaveral, Florida. Image: Intuitive Machines The first lunar lander aiming for a touchdown at the Moon’s south pole has a new launch date. Intuitive Machines said Friday it is …

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Russia’s Luna 25 lander crashes on the Moon

An animation depicts the Luna 25 probe in orbit above the Moon’s surface. Image: Roscomos. Russia’s first mission to the Moon for nearly 50 years ended in failure when the Luna 25 spacecraft crashed onto the surface, the Russian space agency Roscomos said Sunday. In an official statement published to the Telegram social media account …

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NASA concerned SpaceX’s Starship schedule could delay moon landing

Artist’s illustration of the Starship landing system on the moon. Credit: SpaceX A senior NASA official raised concerns Wednesday that “difficulties” with SpaceX’s development of the huge new Starship rocket could delay the Artemis program’s first moon landing with astronauts from late 2025, a mission that will use a derivative of the Starship vehicle to …

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