The moon

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an illustration of the night sky

See the moon meet up with the Seven Sisters of the Pleiades this weekend

By Joe Rao published

During the morning hours of Sunday, Sept. 22, skywatchers will be able to watch a waning gibbous moon cross in front of probably the most popular of all the star clusters in the sky: the Pleiades.

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The Yutu 2 rover, as seen by the Change 4 lander

China's Yutu 2 rover still going strong after nearly 6 years on the far side of the moon (video)

By Andrew Jones published

China's Chang'e 4 rover Yutu 2 has been working on the far side of the moon for nearly six years. It was designed to operate for just three lunar days, or about three Earth months.

The moon
a blue-and-green planet dotted with white clouds next to a lumpy space rock and a grey-and-white moon pockmarked with craters

Earth will get another moon this month  — but not for long!

By Robert Lea published

Earth will grab itself another moon this month, but only briefly. The "mini-moon" in the form of asteroid 2024 PT5 will stick around for just two months.

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a person in a white coat, a mask and blue hairnet inspects a large black-and-gold spacecraft inside a white clean room

Japan's ispace will launch its 2nd lunar lander to the moon in December

By Andrew Jones published

Japanese company ispace plans to launch Mission 2, its second shot at landing on the moon, this December on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

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The Chang'e 5 return capsule at its landing site in Inner Mongolia, China, on Dec. 17, 2020.

The moon might still have active volcanoes, China's Chang'e 5 sample-return probe reveals

By Keith Cooper published

The moon could still be volcanically active today, according to samples brought to Earth by China's Chang'e 5 mission in December 2020.

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A view of the lunar south pole obtained by the LRO

Should we regulate the moon? Scientists call for international plan to share lunar water and resources

By Leonard David published

Any lunar resource evaluation or prospecting campaign will need to be international in nature, as no one space agency will have the money or mandate to conduct it alone.

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illustration of a reddish, gold and silver spacecraft on the surface of the moon

NASA gives Intuitive Machines $117 million for 2027 mission to moon's south pole

By Mike Wall published

Intuitive Machines, which aced the first-ever private moon landing earlier this year, just scored a $117 million NASA contract for a 2027 mission to the lunar south pole.

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crumpled pieces of metal can be seen in the foreground; a crescent of light can be seen in the background

We finally know why Astrobotic's private Peregrine moon lander failed

By Monisha Ravisetti last updated

Astrobotic says the Peregrine lunar lander, aka the first private moon mission, failed because of a faulty valve.

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an ocean of magma on the moon

The moon was once covered by an ocean of molten rock, data from India's space mission suggests

By Joshua Snape published

Data from India's recent Chandrayaan-3 mission supports the idea that an ocean of molten rock once covered the moon.

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The left half of the moon's face shines huge amongst a dark sky of stars.

With space agencies racing to the moon, scientists are making a lunar 'time zone'

By Briley Lewis published

Scientists aiming to build a lunar GPS are trying to create a new lunar 'time zone' that's standardized with Earth time.

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