Moon

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.

It’s tricky detecting gravitational waves – these spacetime ripples are often drowned out by background vibrations from earthquakes and human activity. Now a pair of astrophysicists has proposed a new location that would be far quieter – the Moon.

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.

Masten Space Systems is developing a robotic rover that could one day mine water on the Moon using rocket blasts. The Rocket M rover uses rocket pulses to break up ice-bearing lunar soil and collect up to 100 kg of ice particles per day.

Not all planets orbit stars - some drift freely through the cosmos on their own. These cold, dark worlds don’t make great candidates for hosting life, but a new study suggests that their moons could be more habitable than they might seem.

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.

Lockheed Martin and General Motors are teaming up to develop a next-generation rover for NASA's Artemis program. Called the Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV), it will not only carry astronauts about, but will also operate autonomously.

Jupiter’s Icy moon Europa – which is considered one of the most promising places to find life beyond Earth – may have enough internal heat to trigger volcanic activity on the seafloor of its global ocean, according to the results of a new study.

A new study has revealed that crewed missions launching to Earth’s moon and beyond may soon be facing a new challenge. Just five years from now, such ventures could be at an increased risk of extreme space weather events emanating from the Sun.

NASA has awarded SpaceX a contract to develop the lunar lander for the Artemis program that will ferry humans to and from the surface of the Moon in 2024. SpaceX’s Starship prototype beat out competing companies Blue Origin and Dynetics for the job.

A NASA next-generation rover designed to sniff out water and ice at the lunar south pole has just been assigned a ride, with SpaceX's Falcon Heavy given the job of launching it along with a medium-capacity lander to the Moon in 2023.

Scientists have predicted the presence and movement of ocean currents in the vast subsurface ocean of Enceladus. The moon, which is sheathed in a 20 km thick shell of ice, is one of the most promising prospects in the search for ET.