lunar lander

Space photos from five recent moon landing missions show how small technical errors can cause big problems, like crashing or landing sideways

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While Japan’s moon landing mistake caused the robot to land upside down (left), Israeli nonprofit SpaceIL’s mistake caused the lander to crash (right).JAXA/Takara Tomy/Sony Group Corporation/Doshisha University; NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University; Business insider Intuitive Machines’ unmanned Odysseus moon landing almost failed due to a single safety switch. Other moon landing attempts have crashed or burned due … Read more

Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus lunar lander beams home the first photos of the moon’s surface

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It’s been four days since the first private moon landing, an event shrouded in all kinds of emotions. We’ll go into that in a moment. First of all, a few hours ago we got brand new footage of this achievement, as well as a sad but inevitable update on the fate of the lander. For … Read more

Experimental technology made a historic moon landing possible

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Editor’s note: A version of this story appeared in CNN’s science newsletter Wonder Theory. To receive it in your inbox, Register for free here. Gazing at February’s full snow moon, which will light up the night sky this weekend, may feel a little more special than usual after a dramatic moon landing. Just over a … Read more

Experimental technology made a historic moon landing possible

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Editor’s note: A version of this story appeared in CNN’s science newsletter Wonder Theory. To receive it in your inbox, Register for free here. Gazing at February’s full snow moon, which will light up the night sky this weekend, may feel a little more special than usual after a dramatic moon landing. Just over a … Read more

Intuitive Machines lands on the moon during a nail-biting descent of a private Odysseus lander, a first for the US since 1972

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After a nerve-wracking descent and tense silence from the lunar surface, the United States is back on the moon. Odysseus, a robotic lander built by Houston-based company Intuitive Machines, landed near the moon’s south pole tonight (Feb. 22). It was a milestone for space exploration: No private spacecraft had ever landed softly on the moon … Read more

SpaceX launches private Odysseus lander on groundbreaking moon mission (video)

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A potentially historic private moon mission is underway. Odysseus, a robotic lunar lander built by Houston-based company Intuitive Machines, lifted off early this morning (Feb. 15) atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. If all goes according to plan, Odysseus will land near the moon’s south pole on … Read more

The Houston company wants to return America to the moon’s surface

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SpaceX readied a Falcon 9 rocket for launch early Wednesday to send a commercially built robotic lander to the moon, the first targeted landing near the moon’s south pole where NASA’s Artemis astronauts plan to orbit in a few years . The flight comes just five weeks after another American company’s attempt to land a … Read more

Just a month after the failed mission, a second American lunar lander is ready for an attempt

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Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news about fascinating discoveries, scientific developments and more. After a failed moon landing mission last month, NASA is pinning its hopes on a second spacecraft — developed by a separate company — that will make the first moon landing for the United States … Read more

Just a month after the failed mission, a second American lunar lander is ready for an attempt

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Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news about fascinating discoveries, scientific developments and more. After a failed moon landing mission last month, NASA is pinning its hopes on a second spacecraft — developed by a separate company — that will make the first moon landing for the United States … Read more

Japan’s inverted SLIM lunar lander wakes up on the moon’s surface and takes new photos

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Ten days after making Japan’s first moon landing, the SLIM lunar lander suddenly wakes up again after arriving upside down. Mission operators with SLIM, or the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon mission, successfully completed the first moon landing for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) on January 19. However, SLIM’s solar panels were in the … Read more