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 artist’s illustration of Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lander on the moon.

NASA picks Firefly Aerospace to deliver science payloads to the moon in 2023

By Samantha Mathewson

NASA selected Firefly Aerospace to deliver 10 scientific experiments and technology demonstrations to the moon in 2023.

An artist's depiction of astronauts walking on the moon as part of NASA's Artemis program.

US still committed to landing Artemis astronauts on the moon, White House says

By Elizabeth Howell

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday (Feb. 4) that President Joe Biden will carry on the Artemis program to land humans on the moon in the coming years.

nasa's space launch system sls illustration

SpaceX vs NASA: Who will get us to the moon first? Here's how their latest rockets compare

By Gareth Dorrian, Ian Whittaker

No-one has visited the Moon since 1972. But with the advent of commercial human spaceflight, the urge to return is resurgent and generating a new space race.

This animation shows the sped-up orbit of 2020 SO, which was captured by Earth's gravity on Nov. 8, 2020. The space oddity will escape in March 2021.

Earth is about to lose its second moon, forever

By Brandon Specktor

Minimoon SO 2020, a rocket booster that has been orbiting Earth for about 60 years, will drift off forever next month.

Full moon names (and more) for 2021

By Joe Rao

Here is a list of common full moon names, dates and times in 2021, beginning with the "Wolf Moon" in January, to the "Cold Moon" in December.

The full moon of January, known as the Full Wolf Moon, arrives Thursday, Jan. 28, at 2:16 p.m. EST (1916 GMT).

January full moon 2021: The 'Wolf Moon' rises with winter constellations

By Jesse Emspak

The full moon of January, called the Wolf Moon, will occur on Thursday, Jan. 28, at 2:16 p.m. EST (1916 GMT)

People go to bed later and sleep fewer hours the night before a full moon, and menstrual cycles seem to temporarily synchronize with moon cycles, scientists have found in two new studies.

The full moon may influence sleep and menstrual cycles, scientists say

By Chelsea Gohd

People go to bed later and sleep fewer hours the night before a full moon, and menstrual cycles seem to temporarily synchronize with moon cycles, scientists have found in two new studies.

What is a supermoon?

By Elizabeth Howell

These astronaut footprints on the Moon aren’t protected yet.

Apollo landers, Neil Armstrong’s bootprint and other human artifacts on Moon officially protected by new US law

By Michelle L.D. Hanlon

It’s hard to care about bootprints sunk in soil 238,900 miles away as humanity suffers the combined burden of an unforgiving virus and a political unease.

Lunar sample 76015,143, collected by the Apollo 17 crew in 1972, is a 0.7 pound (333 gram) slice of a larger rock that was chipped off a boulder on the moon. It is now on display in the Oval Office in the White House.

A moon rock in the Oval Office: President Joe Biden's lunar display

By Robert Z. Pearlman

Joe Biden was three weeks from taking office as a freshman U.S. senator when the moon rock that is now on display in the White House was collected by astronauts on the lunar surface.

NASA's first Space Launch System core booster ignites its four main engines at the Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi on Jan. 16, 2020. Expected to last 8 minutes, the test lasted just over 1 minute.

Critical engine test for NASA's Space Launch System megarocket shuts down earlier than planned

By Amy Thompson

NASA fired up the core stage of its massive new megarocket Saturday (Jan. 16) in a critical test that appeared to shut down early.

NASA's first Space Launch System Core booster undergoes a fueling test on the B-2 Test Stand at the Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi on Dec. 21, 2020.

NASA will test-fire its 1st SLS megarocket for moon missions today. Here's how to watch.

By Amy Thompson

NASA will attempt to fire the engines on its Space Launch System (SLS) megarocket for the first time today and you can watch the fiery action live online.

plum brook neil a. armstrong test facility

NASA Plum Brook test facility renamed for astronaut Neil Armstrong

By Robert Z. Pearlman

A remote Ohio facility used to test NASA's new moon-bound spacecraft has been renamed for the first astronaut to step foot on the lunar surface.

In 2020, scientists announced the potential discovery of phosphine in in the clouds of Venus, sparking speculation on its implications for life.

The 10 biggest space discoveries and stories of 2020

By Doris Elin Urrutia

This year saw a new age of sample-retrieval missions, protests against a telescope, an incredible visit from a dazzling comet and the ''great conjunction'' of Saturn and Jupiter.

An artist's depiction of astronauts at work on the dusty lunar surface.

The surface of the moon is a galactic time capsule

By Paul Sutter

You wouldn't know it by looking at it, but the moon is a time capsule.

December Full Moon 2020: A 'Cold Moon,' the last full moon of the year, rises tonight!

By Jesse Emspak

The full moon of December, called the Full Cold Moon, will arrive on Dec. 29 and there are plenty of planets to see with it.

Moon by 2024 no more? NASA's Artemis deadline for crewed lunar landings likely to relax under Biden

By Mike Wall

NASA's quest to put boots back on the moon will likely get less urgent after President-elect Joe Biden takes office next month.

NASA's Crew-1 astronauts pose for a photo as they prepare to head to Pad 39A for their SpaceX Crew Dragon launch on Nov. 15, 2020. They are (from left): NASA astronauts Shannon Walker, Victor Glover, Mike Hopkins and Soichi Noguchi with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

The 10 biggest spaceflight stories of 2020

By Elizabeth Howell

While 2020 was a difficult year around the world with the challenges that have come with the coronavirus pandemic, space continued to reach new heights.