Moon

Scientists say a giant impact knocked off the raw ingredients for the moon off the primitive molten Earth and into orbit.

Related Topics: Earth, Apollo Program, Moon Phases 

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An illustration of the night sky on Dec. 07 showing the full Cold Moon occulting Mars.

Watch Mars at opposition pass behind the moon this week in these free webcasts

By Brett Tingley published

This week offers multiple opportunities to get a great look at Mars thanks to several livestreams of Red Planet astronomical events.

NASA's Artemis 1 Orion spacecraft during its distant retrograde orbit departure burn. Earth can be seen in the background.

Artemis 1 Orion spacecraft suffered power blip hours before its close lunar flyby

By Elizabeth Howell published

The Orion spacecraft had a brief power issue on Sunday (Dec. 4) but did complete its planned engine burn to return home as planned today.

Photo taken in Nagoya, central Japan, on Nov. 8, 2022, shows a lunar occultation of Uranus (seen at the bottom of the moon.)

Watch the moon pass in front of Uranus today (Dec. 5)

By Robert Lea published

While distant Uranus will be covered in the night sky for many observers, amateur astronomers in other parts of Earth will be able to use the proximity of the moon and Uranus to spot the ice giant.

earth crescent far in background with moon looming behind spacecraft

NASA's Artemis 1 Orion spacecraft completes crucial moon flyby maneuver for trip home

By Mike Wall published

NASA's Artemis 1 Orion capsule finished a crucial engine burn during a flyby of the moon on Monday morning (Dec. 5).

mannequin astronaut in spacesuit cockpit with pink light filling the view, shining from an abort tower's rocket engines (just out of frame)

Blown away! Watch NASA's Artemis 1 Launch Abort System blast off into space (video)

By Elizabeth Howell published

Luckily, the launch abort system wasn't needed during the Artemis 1 launch to the moon. But the view its departure left behind looks just like a moment from 'Interstellar' or 'Star Wars'.

An illustration of the night sky on Dec. 07 showing the full Cold Moon occulting Mars.

Mars at opposition will meet up with the full moon next week (Dec. 7). Here's how to see it

By Joe Rao published

The full moon will appear in very close proximity to a brilliant Mars in the evening of Wednesday (Dec. 7) as the Red Planet reaches opposition.

close up of orion spacecraft with earth very far in the distance

NASA's Artemis 1 Orion spacecraft leaves moon's orbit to head home

By Brett Tingley published

NASA's Artemis 1 Orion spacecraft successfully completed a roughly two-minute lunar departure burn on Thursday (Dec. 1) to begin heading home after successful lunar orbits.

An illustration of the sky on Dec. 1 showing the conjunction of the moon and Jupiter.

See the moon visit Jupiter in the sky tonight (Dec. 1)

By Robert Lea published

On the first day of December the moon will appear in conjunction with Jupiter, the solar system’s largest planet.

On Nov. 28, 2022, NASA's Orion spacecraft reached its maximum distance from Earth during the Artemis 1 mission when it was 268,563 miles (432210 kilometers) away from our home planet.

Watch as NASA's Artemis 1 Orion spacecraft leaves lunar orbit today (Dec. 1)

By Mike Wall last updated

NASA's Orion capsule will perform a crucial engine burn to depart lunar orbit Thursday (Dec. 1) at 4:54 p.m. EST, and you can watch the action live.

NASA's Artemis 1 mission launches toward the moon atop a Space Launch System rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Nov. 16, 2022.

Artemis 1 moon rocket, NASA's most powerful ever, aced its debut launch, agency says

By Mike Wall published

NASA's Space Launch System megarocket hit all of its marks during its first-ever liftoff two weeks ago, agency officials said.

The half-illuminated moon as it appears during the first quarter moon.

See the half-lit first quarter moon on Wednesday (Nov. 30)

By Robert Lea published

On the final day before December, the moon will be exactly halfway between the new moon and the full moon with its face half-illuminated.

On Nov. 28, 2022, NASA's Orion spacecraft reached its maximum distance from Earth during the Artemis 1 mission when it was 268,563 miles (432210 kilometers) away from our home planet.

Artemis 1 Orion spacecraft hits halfway point of epic moon mission

By Mike Wall published

NASA's Orion spacecraft hit the halfway point of its historic Artemis 1 moon mission in fine form.

Artist's illustration of ICON's envisioned Project Olympus lunar construction system in action on the moon.

Building on the moon: NASA awards Texas company $57 million for lunar construction system

By Mike Wall published

NASA just awarded the Texas-based company ICON $57.2 million for its Project Olympus, which is working to develop technology that will allow humanity to build outposts on the moon and Mars.

Tokyo-based company ispace's Hakuto-R moon lander is seen here being readied for its liftoff atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, which is scheduled for Nov. 30, 2022.

SpaceX will launch Japanese moon lander, UAE rover early Thursday. Here's how to watch.

By Mike Wall published

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch a Japanese lander and UAE rover to the moon early Thursday (Dec. 1), and you can watch the action live.

spacecraft in front with moon and earth in behind

Wow! Artemis 1 Orion spacecraft captures live view of Earth and moon from deep space (video)

By Elizabeth Howell published

There's an epic livestream running on the Artemis 1 moon mission, showcasing live views of the Orion spacecraft as it flies in a distant retrograde lunar orbit.

The Earth and moon as seen by NASA's Artemis I Orion spacecraft as it approached a lunar flyby on Monday, Nov. 21, 2022.

NASA's Artemis 1 Orion spacecraft reaches maximum distance from Earth today

By Elizabeth Howell published

The Artemis 1 spacecraft will be farthest from Earth Monday (Nov. 28) before turning around to return home.

An illustration of the night sky on Monday (Nov. 28) depicting the conjunction of Saturn and a young crescent moon.

See the crescent moon visit Saturn in the night sky Monday (Nov. 28)

By Robert Lea published

When the moon shares the same right ascension with Saturn, the solar system's second-largest planet, it will offer skywatchers a guide to observing the gas giant and its stunning ring system.

Artist's illustration of NASA's BioSentinel cubesat, which launched with the Artemis 1 mission on Nov. 16, 2022.

Artemis 1's BioSentinel cubesat aces lunar flyby, readies for biology mission

By Andrew Jones published

The shoebox-sized BioSentinel spacecraft, which launched on NASA's Artemis 1 mission, is all set to begin its deep-space biology experiment after making a flyby of the moon.

spacecraft at right with the worm logo 'nasa' running around the top. behind is the moon with the black of space visible

Artemis 1 Orion spacecraft captures selfie as Earth sets behind moon (video)

By Elizabeth Howell published

A new video shows NASA's Orion spacecraft capturing a selfie with the background Earth setting behind the moon, along with a suite of other timelapses during its lunar voyage.

NASA's Artemis 1 Orion spacecraft captured this selfie shortly after completing an engine burn that inserted the capsule into lunar orbit on Nov. 25, 2022.

Artemis 1's Orion spacecraft enters orbit around the moon

By Mike Wall published

NASA's Artemis 1 Orion spacecraft arrived in orbit around the moon on Friday afternoon (Nov. 25) after acing an 88-second engine burn.