moon landing

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

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

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

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

Apollo 17 astronauts saw strange flashes on the moon. Will Artemis’ crews see them too?

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The full moon hangs in view with the Orion, in the shell of the payload on top of the SLS rocket. Specialists are now gathering potential photography assignments for NASA’s manned lunar flight Artemis 2, expected to take place in September 2025. Hidden in them Orion spacecraftthey will be hurled to the moon by NASA … Read more

The first American spacecraft to attempt a moon landing in decades burns up after a failed mission

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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 flying hundreds of thousands of miles through space and battling a propellant problem that derailed its plans, the Peregrine lunar lander has likely met its fiery end. The spacecraft was expected to end its … Read more

The Peregrine Falcon lunar lander’s mission ends in a fiery reentry over the Pacific Ocean

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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 flying hundreds of thousands of miles through space and battling a propellant problem that derailed its plans, the Peregrine lunar lander has likely met its fiery end. The spacecraft was expected to end its … Read more

The first U.S. lunar lander launched in more than fifty years is headed for a fiery end. This is what happened in space

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The Peregrine spacecraft — launched last week in the first U.S. mission to pursue a moon landing in more than 50 years — is on its way back to Earth and is expected to make a fiery return after a critical fuel leak scuppered its lunar ambitions. The failed moon landing attempt is a setback … Read more