Lunar Science Stories
Gateway Tops Off
Gateway’s Power and Propulsion Element is now equipped with its xenon and liquid fuel tanks.
The Next Full Moon Will Be the Last of Four Consecutive Supermoons
The Next Full Moon is a Supermoon; the Beaver, Frost, Frosty, or Snow Moon; Kartik Purnima; Loy Krathong; the Bon Om Touk (”Boat Racing Festival”) Moon, the Tazaungdaing Festival Moon; and Ill Poya. The next full Moon will be Friday…
How NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer Could Decipher the Moon’s Icy Secrets
There’s water on the Moon, but scientists only have a general idea of where it is and what form it is in. A trailblazing NASA mission will get some answers. When NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer begins orbiting the Moon next year,…
Gateway: Centering Science
Gateway is set to advance science in deep space, bringing groundbreaking research opportunities to lunar orbit.
NASA Provides Update on Artemis III Moon Landing Regions
As NASA prepares for the first crewed Moon landing in more than five decades, the agency has identified an updated set of nine potential landing regions near the lunar South Pole for its Artemis III mission. These areas will be…
Gateway: Life in a Lunar Module
Teams at NASA, ESA (European Space Agency), and Thales Alenia Space, including astronauts Stan Love and Luca Parmitano, came together in Turin, Italy, this summer for a test run of Gateway, humanity’s first space station to orbit the Moon. The…
Artemis I Radiation Measurements Validate Orion Safety for Astronauts
NASA’s Orion spacecraft is designed to keep astronauts safe in deep space, protecting them from the unforgiving environment far from Earth. During the uncrewed Artemis I mission, researchers from NASA, along with several collaborators, flew payloads onboard Orion to measure…
Gateway Stands Tall for Stress Test
The Gateway space station’s Habitation and Logistics Outpost has successfully completed static load testing in Turin, Italy. With this phase of stress testing complete, the module is one step closer to final outfitting ahead of launch to lunar orbit.
NASA’s LRO: Lunar Ice Deposits are Widespread
Deposits of ice in lunar dust and rock (regolith) are more extensive than previously thought, according to a new analysis of data from NASA’s LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter) mission. Ice would be a valuable resource for future lunar expeditions. Water…
NASA’s Artemis Science Instrument Gets Tested in Moon-Like Sandbox
Scientists and engineers tested NASA’s LEMS (Lunar Environment Monitoring Station) instrument suite in a “sandbox” of simulated Moon "soil."