After two failed attempts, NASA has successfully launched its Moon-bound megarocket the Space Launch System, which will travel beyond the far side of the Moon and back - further than any other habitable spacecraft so far.
Whereas NASA is seeking partners for its Artemis Program, Russia and China are pursuing an agreement of their own. They call it the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS), and they too are looking for partners.
NASA has announced the names of the 18 astronauts that make up the Artemis Team. A select few, and some international partners, will be going back to the Moon. The next man and first woman on the Moon are among the names.
Thanks to China’s Chang’e-1 and Chang’e-2 lunar orbiters, the number of known craters on the moon’s surface is now more than a dozen times larger than the 9,137 craters that are officially recognized.
A Chinese probe has delivered the first samples to be collected from the Moon in more than 40 years. The Chang’e-5 sample return capsule floated down to the snowy plains of Inner Mongolia.
A Chinese probe transferred rocks it gathered from the moon to an orbiter on Sunday in preparation for returning samples to Earth for the first time in almost 45 years, the country's space agency announced.
China launched an ambitious mission on Tuesday to bring back rocks and debris from the moon’s surface for the first time in more than 40 years – an undertaking that could boost human understanding of the moon and solar system.
NASA recently announced the three companies that will be building lunar landing systems to take astronauts back to the Moon - SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Dynetics.
When the Artemis III mission lands on the lunar surface in 2024 - it will serve as a stepping stone towards the creation of a permanent human presence on the Moon, NASA hopes.
India launched an ambitious robotic lunar mission named Chandrayaan 2 on Monday, targeting a touchdown near the lunar south pole on 6 September. The Chandrayaan 2 mission is India’s most daring space project to date.
