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☆ What’s on the far side of the moon? Here’s why scientists want to find out
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-03 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

“The far side of the moon is very different from the near side,” said Li Chunlai, China National Space Administration deputy chief designer. The Yutu-2 lunar rover took an image of the Chang'e-4 lunar probe on the far side of the moon on January 11, 2019. Far side mysteriesDespite years of orbital data and samples collected during six of the Apollo missions, scientists are still trying to answer key questions about the moon. Hector Retamal/AFP/Getty ImagesChang’e-6 is just one mission heading to the moon’s far side as NASA has plans to send robotic missions there as well. Cracking the lunar codeOne of the most fundamental questions that scientists have tried to answer is how the moon formed.

Persons: Von, hasn’t, ”, Li Chunlai, David Trone, Bill Nelson, ” Nelson, “ We’re, Pink Floyd, Renu Malhotra, Louise Foucar, we’ve, Noah Petro, Artemis III, “, ” Petro, Artemis, Malhotra, Brett Denevi, ” Denevi, Hector Retamal, Denevi, Aitken, “ it’s, CNN’s Wayne Chang Organizations: CNN, China National Space Administration, NASA, Louise Foucar Marshall Science Research, Planetary Sciences, University of Arizona, Apollo, Reconnaissance, Artemis, Soviet Union, Johns Hopkins, Getty Locations: China, Tucson, AFP, Hainan Province

☆ China’s Chang’e-6 moon probe stands by for launch as space race with US heats up
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-02 | by ( Simone Mccarthy | Marc Stewart | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

China’s planned 53-day mission would see the Chang’e-6 lander touch down in a gaping crater on the moon’s far side, which never faces Earth. China became the first and only country to land on the moon’s far side during its 2019 Chang’e-4 mission. Ambitious missionThe Chang’e-6 probe will be a key test for China’s space capabilities in its effort to realize leader Xi Jinping’s “eternal dream” of building the country into a space power. This time, to communicate with Earth from the moon’s far side, Chang’e-6 must rely on the Queqiao-2 satellite, launched into lunar orbit in March. This time, China has said the Chang’e-6 mission will carry scientific instruments or payloads from France, Italy, Pakistan and the European Space Agency.

Persons: China’s, “, Ge Ping, Xi Jinping’s, James Head, Luo Yunfei, Bill Nelson, –, ” Nelson Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, China, Space Administration’s, of Lunar Exploration, Space Engineering, Brown University, China News Service, Luna, NASA, European Space Agency Locations: China, Hong Kong, Hainan, United States, Russia, Chang’e, India, Japan, Texas, France, Italy, Pakistan

☆ Japan’s ‘Moon Sniper’ returns images after third long, lunar night
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-02 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Temperatures during the lunar night can plunge to minus 208 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 133 degrees Celsius), according to NASA. And Moon Sniper wasn’t expected to withstand even one lunar night, which is a period of darkness on the moon lasting about two weeks. Riding out the lunar nightThe mission team communicated with Moon Sniper on April 23 after the lander rode out its third lunar night. From JAXAIn addition to surviving the extreme cold of the lunar night, Moon Sniper has also endured the searing temperatures of the lunar day, which can reach 250 degrees Fahrenheit (121 degrees Celsius), according to NASA. On February 29, after seven days of operating, Odie went to sleep because it wasn’t intended to survive the lunar night.

Persons: CNN —, Smart, SLIM, ’, Moon, ”, Odysseus, Odie ”, Odie, “ Odie, Jack Fischer, Fischer, ” Fischer, “, I’m, Vikram, Artemis, Noah Petro, Artemis III, ” Petro Organizations: CNN, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, NASA, JAXA, Reconnaissance, Artemis, Apollo Locations: Japan, Houston, India, China

☆ Many large U.S. cities are in deep financial trouble. Here's why
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-25 | by ( Carlos Waters | In Carloswaters | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Municipal governments across the United States are looking to rein in spending as pandemic-era stimulus dries up and inflation lingers for longer than expected. The group issued a AA investment grade general obligation bond rating for New York City in March 2024. The financial challenges within cities appear to be mounting despite high municipal credit ratings and robust demand for urban commodities like housing. "I think we can all agree that we're broke," said Houston Mayor John Whitmire in a March 2024 City Council budget hearing. Meanwhile, in the case of New York City, leaders remain optimistic about future returns.

Persons: Michael Rinaldi, Brad Lander, Sheila Weinberg, we're, Houston Mayor John Whitmire, Weinberg, We've, Lander, Eric Adams, Rinaldi, Adams Organizations: Fitch, AA, New, Truth, University of Denver, New York, Apple, Houston Mayor, Accounting, CNBC, Lander Locations: United States, U.S, New York City, Chicago, Houston, Portland , Oregon, New York

☆ NASA and Nokia are taking 4G into space
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-24 | by ( Jack Bantock | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

That’s the shared vision of NASA and Nokia, who have partnered to set up a cellular network on the Moon to help lay the building blocks for long-term human presence on other planets. A SpaceX rocket is due to launch this year — the exact date has yet to be confirmed — carrying a simple 4G network to the Moon. The 4G network unit is being built by Nokia’s Bell Labs using a range of off-the-shelf commercial components. Images of ice — transmitted back to the lander and then Earth in near real-time via the cellular network — would be a world-first. NASA selected Bell Labs as part of its Tipping Point initiative, a series of partnerships with companies to develop technologies for future missions that puts them in prime position for key roles in the future space economy.

Persons: ” Walt Engelund, Shackleton, Engelund, Artemis —, ”, ” Thierry Klein, ” Klein Organizations: CNN, NASA, Nokia, SpaceX, Technology, Nokia’s Bell Labs, Nokia Bell Labs, Bell Labs, US Defense, Research Projects Agency, DARPA, Bell Labs Solutions Research, Nokia Bell

Kam Ghaffarian, co-founder and chairman of Axiom Space Inc., speaks during an interview at the company's headquarters in Houston, Texas, U.S., on Friday, Jan. 14, 2022. IBX's Kam Ghaffarian wants to go even further: the stars. Ghaffarian has been instrumental in ushering in the new space economy, having co-founded and invested in a cadre of commercial space ventures. Unlike other high-profile billionaires building commercial space companies, Ghaffarian made his fortune through the space industry, and rather than focusing on access to space, he's leveraging those falling costs to build out infrastructure and business activities in space. Ghaffarian believes the space economy will be worth trillions of dollars — and sooner than many realize.

Persons: Kam Ghaffarian, Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, Elon Musk, IBX's Kam Ghaffarian, CNBC's Morgan Brennan, Ghaffarian, Odysseus, he's, We've, Jeff, Bezos, we've, Morgan Brennan, it's Organizations: Space, International, Elon, Technologies, NASA, KBR, SpaceX Locations: Houston , Texas, U.S, Colorado Springs, Iran

☆ Lion Cafe: A classical music cafe in the middle of Tokyo’s busy Shibuya area
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-17 | by ( Maggie Hiufu Wong | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Walking into the Lion Cafe, in Tokyo’s Shibuya district, the first thing one notices is the seating. “Meikyoku kissa is a place that plays classical music, where customers can listen to music, have a drink and relax,” says Naoya Yamadera, the current manager of the Lion Cafe. The cafe has more than 10,000 classical music CDs and records. Many people are not familiar with classical music, so I’d like them to get used to it in places like here,” says Yamadara. For more on the Lion Cafe, watch the video at the top of this story.

Persons: ”, Naoya Yamadera, Yanosuke, John S Lander, Yamadera, they’ve, “ Organizations: CNN, Lion Locations: Tokyo’s Shibuya, Tokyo, America, Europe, Japan

☆ NASA is asking for help to retrieve Mars samples that could be the first evidence of alien life
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-15 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

NASA's Perseverance Mars rover is collecting samples that could be evidence of ancient alien life. But NASA's Mars Sample Return mission to bring them to Earth will now cost $11 billion and take two decades. NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASUNASA's original proposal for the Mars Sample Return is "mind-bendingly complicated," David Parker, director of space exploration at the European Space Agency, said in 2021. AdvertisementAn illustration shows a concept of how NASA's Mars Sample Return mission would launch Perseverance's samples from the surface of Mars. At the current price tag, Mars Sample Return would "cannibalize" other NASA missions, Nelson said.

Persons: —, Nicola Fox, We're, David Parker, Bill Nelson, Nelson, Fox, Lockheed Martin, Northrop, We've, that's Organizations: NASA, Service, Mars Express, ESA, JPL, Caltech, ASU, European Space Agency, Lockheed, Northrop Grumman, Boeing, SpaceX Locations: Berlin, Mars

☆ Songkran 2024: Celebrating Thailand’s annual New Year festival
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-05 | by ( Karla Cripps | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Bangkok, Thailand CNN —On the surface, Thailand’s annual Songkran festival appears to be just one great big water fight. Pipad Krajaejun, a history lecturer at Bangkok’s Thammasat University, says it’s difficult to pinpoint exactly when the water fights became such a key part of the festival. (We’ll share more on the water fights below.) Some towns limit the water fights to one day, so be sure to check ahead if you’re planning to join the battles. Soe Zeya Tun/ReutersAmong the highlights of the festival is the Maha Songkran Parade, which will happen on April 11.

Persons: Thailand CNN —, that’s, ”, Songkran, Boonserm Satraphai, Pipad, “, Soe Zeya Tun, University’s Pipad, Nam, Chalinee Thirasupa, MBK, Lauren DeCicca, John S Lander, it’s, CNN Travel’s Karla Cripps, she’s Organizations: CNN, Thailand CNN, UNESCO, Heritage, Bangkok’s Thammasat University, CNN Travel, ”, Thailand’s Tourism Authority, of, Reuters, Central Department, Thai Locations: Bangkok, Thailand, it’s, Chiang Mai, Thailand's, Khao San, Chiang, Old City, Pipad, Chiangmai, Thailand’s, Ratchadamnoen, Lanna, San

☆ Billionaires going to space aim to industrialize the moon, asteroids, and Mars. It's time to set some ground rules.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-23 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Read previewThe space business is in bloom and, so far, it's largely unregulated. Other space startups have ambitions including asteroid mining, in vitro fertilization (IVF) in space, and space hotels. As space startups and billionaires vie for a foothold on the moon and beyond, experts say governments probably need to start setting some ground rules. Seven of the world's 10 biggest commercial space operators are based in the US, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. AdvertisementIn another vein, last year Florida passed a bill to protect space companies and their owners from getting sued over spaceflight passenger death or injury.

Persons: —, Jeff Bezos's, Elon Musk, Bezos, NASA What's, George Nield, Galileo, Joel Kearns, Richard Branson, Galactic's, Lyndon B, Johnson, Jeff Bezos, Joe Raedle, Michelle Hanlon, Jared Isaacman, William Shatner, Hanlon Organizations: Service, NASA, Houston, SpaceX, Business, Northeastern University, Federal Aviation Administration's, Space Transportation, JPL, FAA, Virgin Galactic, Virgin, Getty, Artemis Accords, Hague Institute, Global Justice, Washington, Companies, Shepard, Center for Air, Space, University of Mississippi School of Law, titans, US International Trade Commission, Organisation for Economic Co, Federal Communications Locations: Mars, Russia, China, Blue, Florida

☆ Meet Europeans who moved to the US and say there’s no going back
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-18 | by ( Terry Ward | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

We spoke with a handful of Europeans who are embracing American life about what brought and ties them to the United States. “I was always a career hunter, super career-focused,” says Herrmann, who eventually started his own tourism marketing business in the United States, Herrmann Global. “You have to have a certain level of cynicism and criticism because that’s what makes you smart.”She says she gets very upset when she sees Europeans “pooh-poohing” the United States. That said, she does find the “constant quest to be better, more efficient and more relevant” in the United States exhausting at times. She says living in the United States has afforded her the privilege to get to know and befriend people of many different ethnicities.

Persons: adieu, who’ve, they’ll, expats, ’ Florian Herrmann, “, ”, Herrmann, ’ ”, ‘, I’m, Gabriele Sappok, she’s, Sappok, Andreas, Gabriele Sappok “, it’s, ” Sappok, “ didn’t, Laurence Noguier, Jason W, Noguier, ” Noguier, Lawless, Clodagh Lawless, didn’t, she’ll, Lorna MacDonald, Lorna MacDonald Lorna MacDonald, MacDonald, she’d, Augustine, It's, Terry Ward Organizations: CNN, CNN Travel, Herrmann Global, Dubai Locations: United States, France, decamped, Italy, Portugal, Europe, Munich, Germany, California, Wyoming, America, German, Lander , Wyoming, “, New York City, Stuttgart, Washington , DC, Chicago, ” France, Dearborn, Galway, Ireland, American, Florida, Penzance, England, Australia, Singer Island , Florida, Augustine , Florida, St, ” Florida, Tampa

WASHINGTON (AP) — Astronaut Thomas P. Stafford, who commanded a dress rehearsal flight for the 1969 moon landing and the first U.S.-Soviet space linkup, died Monday. He died in a hospital near his Space Coast Florida home, said Max Ary, director of the Stafford Air & Space Museum in Weatherford, Oklahoma. Photos You Should See View All 60 ImagesThe Apollo 10 mission in May 1969 set the stage for Apollo 11’s historic mission two months later. He volunteered for the Air Force and had hoped to fly combat in the Korean War. After the Apollo-Soyuz mission, Stafford returned to the Air Force and worked in research and commanded the Air Force Flight Test Center before retiring in 1979 as a three-star general.

Persons: Thomas P, Stafford, Max, Tom Stafford, Bill Nelson, “ Tom, Gene Cernan, John Young, Charlie Brown, ” Stafford, Alexei Leonov, Tom, Gerald Ford, Leonid Brezhnev, “, you’re, Neil Armstrong, Frank Borman, Pete Conrad, Wally Schirra, Stafford’s, Cernan, didn’t, Get, Linda Organizations: WASHINGTON, Air Force, Coast, Stafford Air & Space Museum, NASA, Apollo, Soviet Union, Disney World, Soyuz, Russian, Space, U.S . Naval Academy, Air, Gemini, Gene, Stafford's Air Force, Pentagon Locations: U.S, Stafford, Coast Florida, Weatherford , Oklahoma, Soviet, Soviet Union, Russia, Oklahoma, Florida, Cape Canaveral

☆ Irish whiskies are doing the unthinkable - adding flavors
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-17 | by ( Jordan Valinsky | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

New York CNN —On St. Patrick’s Day, throwing back an Irish whiskey might taste different than it used to. Flavored whiskey is a $1.5 billion category and accounts for 20% of all US whiskey sales. In the past few years, flavored whiskey sales have outpaced unflavored whiskey, according to Southern Glazer’s distributors. But with younger drinkers gravitating toward punchier flavors, Irish brands “have to be much more flexible than their historical beliefs have been,” he told CNN. Flavors are “a good way to get them into the brand and into the whiskey category, and certainly into Irish whiskey,” Basford said.

Persons: Patrick’s, “, ”, Lander Otegui, Bushmills, Jameson, Conor McGregor’s, Otegui, Honey, Paul Basford, William Grant, Basford, Jack Daniel’s, Jim Beam, ” Jon Berg, ” Basford, ” Otegui Organizations: New, New York CNN, CNN, Tullamore D.E.W, Tullamore, NIQ Locations: New York, St, Southern, Tullamore D.E.W, Tullamore

☆ SpaceX Starship launches successfully, notches new milestones on way around Earth
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-14 | by ( Michael Sheetz | In Michaeljsheetz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Elon Musk's company launched Starship at about 9:25 a.m. The SpaceX Starship spacecraft lifts off from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, on March 14, 2024. Chandan Khanna | AFP | Getty ImagesSpaceX has flown the full Starship rocket system on two tests in the past year, with launches in April and November. The Starship system is designed to be fully reusable and aims to become a new method of flying cargo and people beyond Earth. Starship's staggering sizeThe SpaceX Starship spacecraft lifts off from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, on March 14, 2024.

Persons: Elon, Musk, Chandan Khanna, we've Organizations: SpaceX, Elon Musk's, AFP, Getty, Federal Aviation Administration, Afp, Super, FAA, NASA Locations: Boca Chica , Texas, Starbase

Sitting atop its stainless steel Super Heavy booster, Starship stood taller than the Statue of Liberty at the company's new orbital launchpad in South Texas. As the booster fell back to Earth, Starship continued to climb toward the heavens, then shut off its engines to glide through space. Once fully operational, Starship will be able to carry up to 150 metric tonnes (165 US tons) to space, per SpaceX. Illustration of SpaceX Starship human lander design that will carry NASA astronauts to the Moon's surface during the Artemis mission. NASA's new moon rocket, SLS, could send 46 tons into orbits beyond the moon.

Persons: —, Elon, Musk, Dan Huot, Marianne Ayala, Morgan Stanley, Artemis, Artemis III Organizations: Service, SpaceX, Business, SpaceX's, Texas launchpad, X, NASA, Super, Saturn, Morgan, SLS, SpaceX SLS, Apollo Locations: South Texas, Texas

☆ Opinion: Precious samples from Mars have been collected. Now it’s up to Congress to get them back
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-12 | by ( Opinion Jonathan I. Lunine | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

He served on the NASA Mars Sample Return Independent Review Board in 2023. Within these tubes are priceless samples of Mars that hold the clues to when and how Mars went from Earth-like habitability to uninhabitable desolation. Mars Sample Return is among the most challenging and complex robotic missions ever attempted, requiring the largest lander ever put on Mars, which would carry a rocket to launch the samples off the surface into Martian orbit. Mars holds secrets about what makes it possible for a planet to support life, locked in the samples that await return to Earth. NASA must provide that plan to Congress as soon as possible so that Congress can move forward with adequate funding.

Persons: Jonathan Lunine, David C, Duncan, Jonathan I, Mars Organizations: Cornell University, NASA, CNN, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, JPL, Apollo, European Space Agency, US National Academy of Sciences, MSR, Planetary Science Locations: Washington, DC, China

☆ Fungi mystery: Amphibian found with mushroom growing from its body
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-02 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

But a newly described mystery involving a mushroom and a frog suggests that fungi’s role in the environment is anything but black-and-white. Once upon a planetA golden-backed frog is seen with a small mushroom (right) growing out of its body. Elsewhere in our solar system, space scientists have spotted three faint and tiny moons orbiting the outermost planets in the Milky Way: Uranus and Neptune. — A dead star that feasted on a planet once in its orbit could foretell the eventual fate of our own solar system. They find wonder in planets beyond our solar system and discoveries from the ancient world.

Persons: Lohit, Dimorphos, ”, Dr, Sabina Raducan, it’s, Ralf Britz, Britz, Here’s, Odysseus, Odie, —, Ashley Strickland, Katie Hunt Organizations: CNN, NASA, DART, University of Bern’s Physics, CNN Space, Science Locations: Indian, Karnataka, Dimorphos, Switzerland, Myanmar, Dresden, Germany, Roman Britain, United States

☆ Market broadening will happen within the S&P, rather than small or mid-caps, says Scott Ladner
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-01 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailMarket broadening will happen within the S&P, rather than small or mid-caps, says Scott LadnerScott Lander, Horizon Investments CIO, discusses what's ahead for the markets in March.

Persons: Scott Ladner Scott Lander Organizations: Horizon Investments

☆ NASA may build giant telescopes on the moon in your lifetime. Check out the blueprints.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-01 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

One moonshot plan would build a giant radio dish spanning an entire crater on the far side of the moon. An illustration of a conceptual radio telescope within a crater on the moon. Silk argues that lunar telescopes would open the door to a new era of major space discoveries. A satellite trail streaks in front of galaxies in this image from the Hubble Space Telescope. Any radio telescope on the moon's back end would pick up the pure emissions of the universe.

Persons: —, Vladimir Vustyansky, James Webb, Dallan Porter, Roger Angel, Joseph Silk, Jack Burns, Burns, That's, Stefica Nicol, Artemis, Ronald Polidan, FarView, Jack Burns Karan Jani, LILA, Fermilab LILA, Jani, NASA's James Webb, Temim, Webb, Angel, Chris Gunn, Nick Woolf, Angel Roger, Phil, Martin Elvis, Elvis Organizations: Service, NASA, Business, Vanderbilt Lunar Labs, Telescope, University of Arizona, American Astronomical Society, Payload, University of Colorado Boulder, Hubble Space, Hubble, ESA, Radio Telescope, REUTERS, NASA JPL, Caltech, Radio Science Investigations, Houston, Lunar Resources, Resources, Inc, Vanderbilt University, Fermilab, Telescopes, CSA, Princeton University, Engineers, James Webb Space, Industry, AP Locations: New Orleans, Australia

☆ Investing in Space: How Columbia's fabric tech landed on the surface of the moon
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Michael Sheetz | In Michaeljsheetz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

CNBC's Investing in Space newsletter offers a view into the business of space exploration and privatization, delivered straight to your inbox. Looking at Intuitive Machines ' Odysseus spacecraft, you may have noticed any one of four fairly visible images: The American flag, NASA logo, Intuitive Machines logo … and a Columbia Sportswear logo. Of course, Columbia wasn't just involved to keep a moon lander comfortable with its jacket liner. "A technology that's good enough to get a lunar spacecraft to the moon, that you can wear in your everyday life? Pioneers in space – I would have never attached that to our company, say, 5 years ago," Boyle added.

Persons: CNBC's Michael Sheetz, Joe Boyle, We've, Boyle, Columbia wasn't Organizations: Columbia, NASA Locations: Columbia

☆ New images share unprecedented view of how Odysseus spacecraft landed on the moon
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-28 | by ( Jackie Wattles | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Remarkable new images from the Odysseus mission capture the spacecraft — the first US-made vehicle to make a soft touchdown on the moon in five decades — in the moments directly after its harrowing and historic touchdown on the lunar surface. Intuitive Machines, the Houston-based company that developed the Odysseus lander, shared the photos at a news briefing Wednesday. Mission controllers were celebrating the success, cheering “what a magnificent job that robust, lucky lander did all the way to the moon,” said Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus. As of NASA and Intuitive Machines’ last news briefing on Friday, the state of spacecraft and all of its science instruments was not yet clear. Many of the instruments on board Odysseus were designed to collect information as the spacecraft was in transit to the moon and during the crucial moments of descent toward the lunar surface.

Persons: Odysseus, —, ”, Steve Altemus Organizations: CNN, NASA, Canadensys Aerospace Locations: Houston, Toronto

☆ Odysseus Moon Lander to Power Down, With Aim to Extend Time on Surface
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-28 | by ( Kenneth Chang | More About Kenneth Chang | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Odysseus is not dead yet. But it will soon be time to say, “Good night, moon lander.”Last week, Odysseus, a privately built robotic lunar lander, became the first American spacecraft to set down on the moon in more than 50 years, and the first nongovernmental effort ever to accomplish that feat. But like the Homeric Greek hero it was named after, the lander has not had an easy journey with a neat happy ending. In a news conference on Wednesday, Intuitive Machines, the Houston-based company that built Odysseus, said the spacecraft continued to operate, but that it would be put into a planned shutdown later on Wednesday. “We’ve conducted a very successful mission,” said Steve Altemus, the chief executive of Intuitive Machines.

Persons: Odysseus, “ We’ve, ”, Steve Altemus Locations: Houston

☆ Space photos from 5 recent moon-landing missions show how tiny engineering errors can cause big problems, like crashing or landing sideways
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-27 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The Houston-based company's uncrewed Odysseus lander was almost lost to one of the tiniest possible mistakes. The view from the Intuitive Machines Odysseus lander as it descended to its landing site. Intuitive MachinesWith less than two hours to go before landing, Intuitive Machines engineers frantically whipped up a new navigation system. Indeed, several robotic moon landing attempts have crashed or otherwise malfunctioned in the last few years. Similarly, Intuitive Machines' success on Thursday shows that small errors don't necessarily have to spell the end of a mission.

Persons: Steve Altemus, Trent Martin, Odysseus, Astrobotic —, Peregrine, Astrobotic Astrobotic, Astrobotic, Vikram, SpaceNews, Robert Braun, Kailasavadivoo Sivan, ispace, NASA's, Braun, Japan's Smart Lander, SLIM, LEV, Takara Tomy Organizations: US, Business, NASA, Reconnaissance, Goddard, Arizona State University, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, NASA's Goddard Space Flight, freefall, JAXA, Takara, Sony Group Corporation, Doshisha Locations: India, Japan, Houston

☆ China moon spacecraft named ‘Dream Vessel’
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-26 | by ( Simone Mccarthy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Hong Kong CNN —China’s space agency has revealed the names of the spacecraft that it hopes will take Chinese astronauts to the moon by the end of the decade. In a news release over the weekend, the China Manned Space Agency said development was “progressing well” on the spaceship Mengzhou, or Dream Vessel, the lander, Lanyue, or Embracing the Moon, and a super-heavy-lift carrier rocket named Long March 10. The name Mengzhou is linked to the “Chinese nation’s dream of landing on the moon,” it added. The United States is ramping up its lunar program, with NASA last month announcing its plan to land astronauts on the moon in 2026, a year behind its original schedule. Last week, the commercial Odysseus lunar lander developed by Intuitive Machines became the first US-made spacecraft to touch down on the moon in 50 years.

Persons: “ Lanyue ”, Mao Zedong, Xi Jinping’s, Japan’s Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, China Manned Space Agency, NASA, Machines Locations: Hong Kong, China, Beijing, People’s Republic of China, United States, Japan, India

☆ Odysseus lunar lander shares new photos from its harrowing descent
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-26 | by ( Jackie Wattles | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —The Odysseus spacecraft has dispatched new images it captured of the lunar surface during the lander’s harrowing approach to the moon. The grainy images were shared by Intuitive Machines, the company that developed Odysseus, on Monday morning. What Odysseus’ images revealAn image released by company Friday showed a view of the moon’s Schomberger crater captured by the spacecraft during its descent. “The camera is on the starboard aft-side of the lander in this phase,” the Intuitive Machines post noted, referring to the right rear portion of the vehicle. Intuitive Machines shared Odysseus’ precise location: The spacecraft is sitting at the coordinates 80.13°S and 1.44°E on the moon, resting at about 2,579 meters (8,500 feet) in elevation.

Persons: Odysseus, ’, “ Odysseus, Odie, Florida —, Embry ‑ Riddle CubeSat, ” Embry, Riddle Organizations: CNN, Reconnaissance, NASA, Goddard, Arizona State University, Embry, Riddle University Locations: Florida

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