Category: Earth’s Moon

NASA’s Apollo Samples, LRO Help Scientists Predict Moonquakes

Moonquakes pose little risk to astronauts during a mission lasting just a few days. But their effects on longer-term lunar surface assets could be significant.

NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer Moon Mission Ends

The small satellite was to map lunar water, but operators lost contact with the spacecraft the day after launch and were unable to recover the mission. NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer ended its mission to the Moon on July 31. Despite extensive efforts, mission operators were unable to establish two-way communications after losing contact with the spacecraft […]

Looking Forward to the Moon

On May 8, 2022, NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems’ Program Manager Shawn Quinn captured this crop of a full frame image of the Hadley–Apennine region of Earth’s Moon including the Apollo 15 landing site (very near the edge of the shadow of one of the lunar mountains in the area). Building upon the pioneers from the […]

NASA Selects Firefly for New Artemis Science, Tech Delivery to Moon

NASA has awarded Firefly Aerospace of Cedar Park, Texas, $176.7 million to deliver two rovers and three scientific instruments to the lunar surface as part of the agency’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign to explore more of the Moon than ever before. This delivery is the first time NASA will use […]

NASA Tech to Use Moonlight to Enhance Measurements from Space

NASA will soon launch a one-of-a-kind instrument, called Arcstone, to improve the quality of data from Earth-viewing sensors in orbit. In this technology demonstration, the mission will measure sunlight reflected from the Moon— a technique called lunar calibration. Such measurements of lunar spectral reflectance can ultimately be used to set a high-accuracy, universal standard for […]

NASA Tech to Use Moonlight to Enhance Measurements from Space

NASA will soon launch a one-of-a-kind instrument, called Arcstone, to improve the quality of data from Earth-viewing sensors in orbit. In this technology demonstration, the mission will measure sunlight reflected from the Moon— a technique called lunar calibration. Such measurements of lunar spectral reflectance can ultimately be used to set a high-accuracy, universal standard for […]

Moon and Flag at NASA Michoud

Just after sunrise, the waning gibbous moon sets just behind a waving United States flag on March 19, 2025, in this image from NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. The waning gibbous moon phase comes after the full moon. As the Moon begins its journey back toward the Sun, the opposite side of the […]

NASA’s LRO Views Japan’s RESILENCE Lunar Lander Landing Area

NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) imaged the landing area of the ispace SMBC x HAKUTO-R Venture Moon Mission 2 RESILIENCE lunar lander which is slated to land on the surface of the Moon no earlier than June 5, 2025 (UTC). This view of the primary landing area is 3.13 miles (5,040 meters) wide and north is up. […]