The “Great American Solar Eclipse” is currently crossing the country. A solar eclipse is when the moon passes in front of the sun, casting a shadow on the earth. NTD’s Chris Beers is covering this one from Syracuse, New York. The U.S. government seeks to negotiate with the Chinese Communist Party about the issue of […]
WASHINGTON—NASA wants to come up with an out-of-this-world way to keep track of time, putting the moon on its own souped-up clock. It’s not quite a time zone like those on Earth, but an entire frame of time reference for the moon. Time there moves a tad quicker—58.7 microseconds every day—compared to Earth. So the […]
MOSCOW—Russia and China are considering putting a nuclear power plant on the moon from 2033–35, Yuri Borisov, the head of Russia’s space agency Roscosmos said on Tuesday, something he said could one day allow lunar settlements to be built. Borisov, a former deputy defense minister, said that Russia and China had been jointly working on […]
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.—The first U.S. spacecraft to land on the moon since the Apollo astronauts fell silent Thursday, a week after breaking a leg at touchdown and tipping over near the lunar south pole. Intuitive Machines’ lander, Odysseus, lasted longer than the company anticipated after it ended up on its side with hobbled solar power […]
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.—The first private U.S. spacecraft to land on the moon broke a leg at touchdown before falling over, according to company officials who said Wednesday it was on the verge of losing power. Intuitive Machines, the company that built the lander, released new photos Wednesday, six days after the landing, that showed at […]
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.—A moon lander that ended up on its side managed to beam back more pictures, with only hours remaining before it dies. Intuitive Machines posted new photos of the moon’s unexplored south polar region Tuesday. The company’s lander, Odysseus, captured the shots last Thursday shortly before making the first U.S. touchdown on the […]
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.—A private U.S. lunar lander is expected to stop working Tuesday, its mission cut short after landing sideways near the south pole of the moon. Intuitive Machines, the Houston company that built and flew the spacecraft, said Monday it will continue to collect data until sunlight no longer shines on the solar panels. […]
TOKYO—Japan’s first moon lander responded to a signal from Earth, suggesting it has survived a second freezing weekslong lunar night, Japan’s space agency said Monday. JAXA called the signal, received late Sunday night, a “miracle” because the probe was not designed to survive the lunar night, when temperatures can fall to minus 170 degrees Celsius […]
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.—A private U.S. lunar lander tipped over at touchdown and ended up on its side near the moon’s south pole, hampering communications, company officials said Friday. Intuitive Machines initially believed its six-footed lander, Odysseus, was upright after Thursday’s touchdown. But CEO Steve Altemus said Friday the craft “caught a foot in the surface,” […]
Odysseus has become the first American spacecraft in over 50 years to land on the moon. And for the first time ever, the feat was achieved by private-sector companies. It wasn’t all smooth sailing, however, as a last-minute glitch threatened to doom the craft’s safe touchdown. The United States and the UK have announced over […]
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.—A private U.S. lunar lander reached the moon and eased into a low orbit Wednesday, a day before it will attempt an even greater feat—landing on the gray, dusty surface. A smooth touchdown would put the U.S. back in business on the moon for the first time since NASA astronauts closed out the […]
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida—A moon lander built by Houston-based aerospace company Intuitive Machines was launched from Florida early on Thursday on a mission to conduct the first U.S. lunar touchdown in more than a half century and the first by a privately owned spacecraft. The company’s Nova-C lander, dubbed Odysseus, lifted off shortly after 1 a.m. […]
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida—The planned launch of a robotic moon lander built by Houston-based aerospace company Intuitive Machines was called off less than two hours before Wednesday’s liftoff time and postponed for at least a day, launch contractor SpaceX said on Tuesday night. SpaceX, the private rocket and satellite company founded by billionaire Elon Musk, said […]
WASHINGTON—Saturn’s moon Mimas is known for its uncanny resemblance to the dreaded Death Star in the original “Star Wars” movie. But it has another intriguing distinction as well, according to researchers—a subsurface ocean hidden under its icy and crater-scarred outer shell. Astronomers said on Wednesday that data obtained by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft on the rotational […]
TOKYO—A Japanese moon explorer is up and running Monday after several tense days without the sunlight it needs to generate power. Japan’s first lunar mission hit its target in a precision touchdown on Jan. 20, but landed the wrong way up, leaving its solar panels unable to see the sun. But with the dawn of […]
TOKYO—Japan’s space agency said Thursday that its first lunar mission hit the tiny patch of the moon’s surface it was aiming for, in a successful demonstration of its system—although the probe appears to be lying upside-down. Japan became the fifth country in history to reach the moon when the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon, or […]
Japan’s lunar lander has just touched down. What’s in store for the heated competition with India, China, and the United States? And as Beijing moves to target “deep space” for hegemony, what’s at stake? NTD spoke with Rick Fisher, senior fellow at the International Assessment and Strategy Center, for his insights.
Japan became the fifth nation to successfully land a spacecraft on the Moon. The Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) touched down around 12:20 a.m. Tokyo time on Jan. 20 (1520 GMT Jan. 19), according to the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency. Several hours passed before mission control would get confirmation that the landing was a […]
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.—Astronauts will have to wait until next year before flying to the moon and at least two years before landing on it, under the latest round of delays announced by NASA on Tuesday. The space agency had planned to send four astronauts around the moon late this year, but pushed the flight to […]
