Lunar Lander

While most artists aspire to have their work exhibited somewhere like The Metropolitan Museum of Art, a piece by Dubai-based painter Sacha Jafri may soon be soaring to even loftier heights – plans call for it to be permanently displayed on the Moon.

With temperatures as cold as to -232 °C, the lunar night is not a friendly place for electronics. Space technology company Masten has developed a more efficient, safer system that uses chemical reactions to keep lander electronics warm until dawn.

Masten Space Systems is working on a way to protect future lunar landers from the regolith thrown up by their engines as they land, by using their engine plume to create their own landing pads just before touchdown.

Israeli startup SpaceIL is gearing up for a second attempt to land the first ever privately-funded spacecraft on the Moon, after securing funds for a new mission with even loftier goals that is slated for launch in 2024.

The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is planning to send a tiny transforming ball-shaped robot to the lunar surface in 2022 to gather data for the development of a future crewed exploration rover.

Using mathematical models, a team of researchers has investigated various configurations of lunar landing spacecraft to determine the best approach for setting down astronauts on the Moon and returning them to an orbiting lunar station.

Having conquered space toilets, NASA has announced a new challenge that invites the public to submit novel ways to unload lunar payloads. NASA’s Lunar Delivery Challenge is offering US$25,000 in prizes for the best ideas for removing cargo.

Radiation is a major danger of space travel, and with human crews heading back to the Moon it’s important to understand the risks. Now we have the clearest data on that to date, thanks to an instrument onboard the Chinese lunar lander Chang’e-4.

There are some places that a solar-powered rover just can’t reach, like the Moon’s polar regions that are permanently in shadow. Now, ESA has outlined a new system where a lander shines a laser at a rover to keep it powered from miles away.

NASA has unveiled its latest concept for a mid-sized lunar lander designed to deliver payloads of up to 300 kg (660 lb) to the Moon's polar regions. The unmanned "pallet" lander is designed to carry a variety of experiments and instruments.

To gain a clearer picture of water ice availability at the Moon’s South Pole, NASA has announced a new mission to send in a lunar rover by the name of VIPER to drill into the lunar surface and analyze samples.

Almost 50 years to the day since Neil Armstrong uttered the words "the Eagle has landed" Lego will launch its Eagle Lunar Module set to celebrate the anniversary. Developed in cooperation with NASA, the set will be available from June 1 at a price of just under US$100.