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BEIJING, June 4, 2024 (AFP) – A module of a Chinese lunar probe successfully took off from the far side of the Moon on Tuesday carrying samples to be taken back to Earth, state media reported. The achievement is a world first, and the latest leap for Beijing’s decades-old space programme, which aims to send a crewed mission to the Moon by 2030. The ascender module of the Chang’e-6 probe “lifted off from lunar surface”, […]
By Hector Retamal with Qian Ye WENCHANG, China, May 3, 2024 (AFP) – China is set Friday to launch a probe to collect samples from the far side of the Moon, a world first as Beijing pushes ahead with an ambitious programme that aims to send a crewed lunar mission by 2030. A rocket carrying the Chang’e-6 lunar probe is scheduled to blast off from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in southern China’s Hainan province […]
By Lucie AUBOURG WASHINGTON, April 7, 2024 (AFP) – When a rare total solar eclipse sweeps across North America on Monday, scientists will be able to gather invaluable data on everything from the Sun’s atmosphere to strange animal behaviors — and even possible effects on humans. It comes with the Sun near the peak of its 11-year solar cycle, setting the stage for a breathtaking display: The corona will glow spectacularly from the Moon’s silhouette […]
TOKYO, March 26, 2024 (AFP) – Japan’s space agency said on Tuesday it will try to revive its Moon lander after a second frigid, two-week lunar night, following a surprising awakening last month. The unmanned Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) touched down in January at a wonky angle that left its solar panels facing the wrong way. As the sun’s angle shifted, it came back to life for two days and carried out scientific […]
TOKYO, March 2, 2024 (AFP) – Japan’s Moon lander has been put back to sleep after it surprisingly survived the freezing, two-week lunar night, the country’s space agency said, with another operation attempt scheduled for later this month. The unmanned Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) touched down in January at a wonky angle that left its solar panels facing the wrong way. As the sun’s angle shifted, it came back to life for two […]
By Issam AHMED WASHINGTON, Feb 23, 2024 (AFP) – For the first time since the Apollo era, an American spaceship has landed on the Moon: an uncrewed commercial robot, funded by NASA to pave the way for US astronauts to return to Earth’s cosmic neighbor later this decade. Odysseus, built by Houston-based Intuitive Machines, touched down near the lunar south pole Thursday at 2323 GMT, after a nail-biting final descent where flight controllers had to […]
By Issam AHMED WASHINGTON, Feb 23, 2024 (AFP) – A Houston-based company has landed America’s first spaceship on the Moon in more than 50 years, part of a new fleet of NASA-funded, uncrewed commercial robots intended to pave the way for astronaut missions later this decade. But while flight controllers confirmed they had received a faint signal, it was not immediately clear whether Odysseus, the lander built by Intuitive Machines, was fully functional, with announcers […]
By Issam AHMED WASHINGTON, Feb 22, 2024 (AFP) – A Houston-based company is set Thursday to land America’s first spaceship on the Moon in more than 50 years, part of a new fleet of NASA-funded, uncrewed, commercial robots meant to pave the way for astronaut missions this decade. If all goes well, Intuitive Machines will guide its hexagon-shaped lander Odysseus, currently orbiting at approximately 60 miles (92 kilometers) from the surface, to a gentle touchdown […]
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, United States, Feb 15, 2024 (AFP) – A US spaceship attempting a lunar landing lifted off early Thursday from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the second such private-led effort this year after the first ended in failure. Intuitive Machines, the Houston company leading mission “IM-1,” hopes to become the first non-government entity to achieve a soft touchdown on the Moon, and to land the first US robot on the surface since […]
By Kyoko HASEGAWA TOKYO, Jan 25, 2024 (AFP) – Japan’s “Moon Sniper” craft made a pin-point lunar landing despite last-minute engine problems, the space agency said Thursday as it released the first images from the mission. A photo taken by a mini-rover showed the boxy yellow lander sitting intact at a slight angle on the rocky grey surface, lunar slopes rising in the distance. Saturday’s touchdown made Japan only the fifth nation to achieve a […]
TOKYO, Jan 22, 2024 (AFP) – Japan switched off its Moon lander almost three hours after a historic touchdown to allow for a possible recovery of the craft when the sun hits its solar panels, the space agency said Monday. With its unmanned Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) mission — dubbed “Moon Sniper” for the craft’s precision landing capabilities — Japan became the fifth country to achieve a soft lunar landing. But after the […]
By Natsuko Fukue and Katie Forster TOKYO, Jan 19, 2024 (AFP) – Japan on Saturday became only the fifth nation to achieve a soft Moon landing, but the craft’s long-term fate was in doubt after space agency officials said its solar cells were not generating power. With the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM), Japan followed the United States, the Soviet Union, China and India in landing on the lunar surface. After initial uncertainty, space […]
