Apollo

SpaceX's flagship new rocket is an absolute monster of a space vehicle. It blasted its launchpad to pieces on its maiden test flight – and Kennedy is now scrambling to prepare for a launch schedule that's unprecedented in mass and sheer frequency.

Looking back at data from the geology experiments left on the lunar surface by the Apollo missions half a century ago, scientists have finally determined that the Moon has a solid core surrounded by a fluid outer core similar to the Earth's.

Fifty years ago this week, Apollo 15 lifted off on the first true lunar exploration mission. Using an improved Lunar Module, the ninth crewed Apollo mission featured the first vehicle to drive on the Moon, allowing astronauts to roam farther than ever before.

Fifty years ago today, on January 31, 1971, a Saturn V rocket lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center carrying Apollo 14`. As the follow-on from the ill-fated Apollo 13, this was the Moon mission that would make or break the US space program.

This weekend marks 50 years since the launch of Apollo 13. Only seven months after Apollo 11, the third manned lunar landing attempt was already seen as routine, but it would become one of the most remarkable stories of survival in history.

Apollo astronaut Colonel Alfred Merrill "Al" Worden has died at the age of 88. Worden was the Command Module Pilot for the 1971 Apollo 15 lunar landing mission, where he remained in orbit while his crewmates descended to the lunar surface.

On November 14, 1969, the second manned mission to land on the Moon lifted off from Cape Kennedy. Four months after the historic Apollo 11 landing, it was the first true manned exploration mission to the lunar surface. But why return to the Moon?

Samples returned to Earth during the Apollo missions quickly offered scientists new insights into the makeup of our Moon. NASA has now cracked open the first of two untouched lunar samples to see what they look like under the microscopes of today.

There's a galaxy of products commemorating Apollo 11's 50th anniversary, from coins to cushions, tumblers to tote-bags. But for those who really want to wear their astro-hearts on their sleeve (or wrist), the Trappist-1 NASA edition might just send them over the moon.

When the Apollo 11 astronauts set foot on the Moon, one of their main tasks was to break out a special tool kit that they used for collecting samples of rock and soil for return to Earth. Now Comex is working to create an updated version to be used by the next generation of lunar explorers.

Fifty years ago, two men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the surface of the Moon. That's a very simple sentence to write, but getting to grips with what is almost certainly one of the most momentous events in the whole of human history is far less easy. So what was Apollo 11?

NASA has stitched together images taken during the Apollo missions to provide a more expansive look through the eyes of the astronauts taking part.