Moon

Japan’s SLIM lander powers down on the moon as it awaits the sun’s rays

Japan’s first lunar lander has officially powered down on the moon after its solar cells were unable to generate electricity, though the nation’s space agency said there is a possibility of turnin

Japan’s SLIM mission makes historic moon landing, but its time is running out

Japan’s long-planned Smart Lander for Investigating Moon has successfully touched down on the lunar surface, making the nation the fifth in history to do so. But all is not well for SLIM, which

Space startup Stells wants to put spacecraft-charging covers on the moon

The portable power bank first came on the scene in 2001, and since then, on-the-go charging has been a possibility for most mobile device users. Now, a new space company wants to bring the concept of

SpaceX launches South Korea’s first moon mission, an orbiter named Danuri

South Korea is headed for the moon. Last night, the country launched its first-ever lunar mission — in fact, its first-ever mission beyond low Earth orbit. Formerly called the Korea Pathfinder Lunar

NASA lunar payload service provider Masten Space Systems begins bankruptcy process

Masten Space Systems began the process of filing for bankruptcy on Thursday, telling a Delaware court that it owed millions in liabilities to companies including SpaceX, Astrobotic, NuSpace and others

Rocket Lab rockets to the moon and other TC news

This week on The TechCrunch Podcast our host, Managing Editor Darrell Etherington talks with TC’s Amanda Silberling about VidCon and the creator economy coming of age. He also speaks to Aria Alamalh

Mystery rocket makes moonfall

Hello and welcome back to Week in Review, where we recap the biggest stories from the week. If you want this in your inbox every Saturday, sign up here. Greg Kumparak is still on vacation, but not to

Rocket Lab launches NASA’s CAPSTONE satellite on its scouting mission for a lunar space station

NASA’s CAPSTONE mission, which will chart a new orbit around the moon which will hopefully be used for a future crewed lunar space station, is underway after a successful launch on Tuesday morni

At NASA’s Lunabotics competition, students design mining robots for the moon

If this year’s Lunabotics competition is any indication, there’s a bright future ahead for the surface of the moon — and below it. The NASA-hosted challenge recently saw 39 teams of univ

Aeva and NASA want to map the moon with lidar-powered KNaCK pack

As humanity prepares to return to the moon (“to stay,” as they remind us constantly), there’s a lot of infrastructure that needs to be built to make sure astronauts are safe and prod

China’s Chang’e-5 probe finds on-site evidence of water on the Moon’s surface

China’s Chang’e-5 lunar lander has found water on the surface of the Moon, marking the first-ever time scientists have found on-site evidence of the substance on Earth’s satellite.

Masten Space Systems to develop a GPS-like network for the moon

Masten Space Systems, a startup that’s aiming to send a lander to the moon in 2023, will develop a lunar navigation and positioning system not unlike GPS here on Earth. Masten’s prototype is being

Blue Origin will upgrade New Shepard rocket with the ability to simulate lunar gravity

Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin will be providing NASA with a valuable scientific tool ahead of the U.S. space agency’s goal of returning to the Moon: The ability to run experiments in simulated l

China’s Chang’e-5 lunar lander successfully lands on the moon

Chinese state news agencies are reporting a successful landing of the Chang’e-5 lunar robotic lander, which will seek to return lunar rock samples back to Earth. The launch took off on November

NASA is looking to buy moon dirt from private companies — no return shipping required

NASA wants to procure samples of lunar soil from private contractors, the agency announced today in a blog post by NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. This is part of the agency’s overall ambiti

NASA issues new call for lunar payload deliveries from its commercial moon lander partners

NASA wants its private commercial space company partners to make more moon deliveries on its behalf: The agency just issued another request for scientific and experimental payloads that need lunar del

NASA sets path for up to six more Artemis moon exploration missions with SLS booster order

NASA has laid the groundwork for an order of up to six additional SLS solid core booster rockets, from supplier Northrop Grumman, the agency announced this week. The six additional boosters would join

NASA seeks miniature scientific payload concepts for robotic Moon rover scouts

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory is seeking ideas from the public around what kind of scientific equipment they could use to outfit tiny lunar rovers to help with Artemis and other Moon missions

2021 NASA budget request includes $3.3B for human lunar landers, $430M for Moon resource development

The Trump White House today issued its fiscal 2021 budget request, and it included a 12% increase in requested funding to NASA’s coffers, as expected. That puts the total request for NASA at $25

Trump said to propose roughly $3 billion NASA budget boost for 2021

President Donald Trump is set to request a budget of $25.6 billion for NASA for its fiscal 2021 operating year, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. It’s looking for nearly $3 billion mor
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