Tag: lunar
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Falcon 9 launches two landers to the Moon on the same mission
SpaceX launched not one but two lunar landers to the Moon on the same mission, on the 100th launch from the same pad where the Apollo 11 crew launched to the Moon. A Falcon 9 successfully lifted off during an instantaneous window on Wednesday, Jan. 15, at 1:11 AM EST (06:11 UTC) from Launch Complex…
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China Retrieves Nearly Two Kilograms of Lunar Samples from Moon’s Far Side
China’s Chang’e-6 reentry capsule successfully landed back on Earth on June 25, concluding a 53-day mission that retrieved 1,935.3 grams of lunar samples from the moon’s far side. The capsule, recovered as planned in Inner Mongolia’s grasslands of Siziwang Banner, was airlifted to Beijing and opened on June 26 to retrieve the sample canister, the…
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NASA Awards SpaceX $843 Million to Build Space Station Deorbit Vehicle
NASA announced on Wednesday that it has selected SpaceX to build a vehicle, dubbed the U.S. Deorbit Vehicle, tasked with safely deorbiting the International Space Station (ISS) by around 2030. This responsibility was originally planned for Russian thrusters. The agreement, valued at $843 million, aims to ensure a controlled retirement of the ISS, minimizing risks…
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SpaceX Starship Completes Successful Test Flight Despite Booster Engine Issue
SpaceX successfully conducted the fourth test flight of its Starship launch system on June 6, with both the Super Heavy booster and Starship upper stage returning to the surface intact. The launch, which took place at 8:50 a.m. Eastern from the Starbase test site at Boca Chica, Texas, encountered a minor setback when one of…
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Robotic probe launched to lunar far side
A Long March 5 heavy-lift rocket, carrying the Chang’e 6 robotic lunar probe, blasts off on Friday from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province. SU DONG/FOR CHINA DAILY The Chang’e 6 robotic probe, tasked with the world’s first attempt to retrieve samples from the moon’s far side, embarked on its historic journey on…
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NASA’s Peregrine Lunar Lander Mission Yields Valuable Data Despite Missing Moon
NASA’s recent mission to send payloads on Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander, launched in January on United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur, faced a setback when a propellant leak prevented the spacecraft from attempting a lunar landing. Despite this, valuable data was still collected from the mission. According to Dan Hendrickson, vice president of Astrobotic, many of…
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Intuitive Machines’ Moon Lander Beams Back Selfies from Space
A cutting-edge moon lander, Odysseus, has captured its first images from space, showcasing Earth in the backdrop as it embarks on its pioneering mission. Launched atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on February 15, the robotic spacecraft, developed by Intuitive Machines, transmitted several snapshots shortly after separating from the rocket’s second stage. “Intuitive Machines successfully…
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Japan’s H3 Rocket Set for Second Launch Attempt Amidst Bid to Revitalize Space Program
Japan is gearing up for another launch attempt of its flagship rocket, the H3, this weekend, aiming to rejuvenate its space program following a setback during the booster’s maiden flight last year, which disrupted satellite and planetary exploration plans. Scheduled to launch from the Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan on Saturday, the second flight…
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Chandrayaan-3 lunar landing mission launches from India
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chandrayaan-3 lunar lander launched from the Second Launch Pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, India. This will be India’s second attempt to successfully perform a lunar landing after the Chandrayaan-2 lander failed during its descent. The Launch Vehicle Mark 3 (LVM3) rocket lifted off Friday, July…
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NASA decides against using Gateway for 2024 lunar landing
As NASA organizes a push to return a human presence to the Moon for the first time since the Apollo era, the agency has made critical changes to the plan that would enable a crewed lunar landing to occur no later than 2024. One of these modifications involved the Lunar Gateway, a modular space station…