Lunar

Odysseus Lunar Lander Sent a Farewell Photo of Earth: Now What?

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Goodbye, Odie. On Thursday, Houston-based space-exploration company Intuitive Machines bade farewell to Odysseus, the lunar lander that took the US to the moon for the first time in more than 50 years. The lander had been there for a week and will remain on the moon’s surface, inoperable but remembered as a historic achievement in the … Read more

Toppled Lunar Landers and More of February’s Best Space Images

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Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus landing during its descent towards the lunar surface. Image: Intuitive Machines It was a topsy-turvy month in spaceflight, with yet another lunar lander falling over and an upsetting new view showing NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter missing a rotor blade, among other memorable moments. February is the shortest month of the year, but it … Read more

The Odysseus lunar lander is on its side and will likely run out of energy soon

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The Odysseus lander is likely to remain operating for another 24 hours on the Moon’s surface, despite being tipped over onto its side. Intuitive Machines, the private space company behind Odysseus, tweeted a few images taken by the spacecraft and gave more updates on how long the team expects it will remain operational. Because of … Read more

Japan’s SLIM moon probe unexpectedly survives lunar night

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By Kantaro Komiya TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s space agency said on Monday its SLIM moon lander has unexpectedly survived a freezing lunar night and re-established communication with the earth, more than a month after the spacecraft made a historic “pinpoint” touchdown on the moon. The Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) touched down on the … Read more

Young Chinese, fed up with family pressure, opt out of Lunar New Year

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This Lunar New Year holiday season, China’s leaders are worried the kids aren’t all right. The ruling Communist Party already has its hands full with young Chinese who prefer to “lie flat” in the face of a slumping economy, “let it rot” rather than join the job-seeking rat race or “run” abroad to escape eroding … Read more

The not-so-secret-anymore lunar mining startup

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Hello and welcome back to TechCrunch Space. We’re just two days away from Intuitive Machines’ first-ever mission to the moon. Pro-tip: If you haven’t already, check out this ultra thorough press kit on the mission — the company goes into a ton of detail about the lander architecture, the payloads on board and everything that will … Read more

The Lunar New Year of the Dragon flames colorful festivities across Asian nations and communities

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TAIPEI, Taiwan — With fireworks, feasts and red envelopes stuffed with cash for the kids, numerous Asian nations and overseas communities have welcomed Saturday the Lunar New Year. It begins with the first new moon of the lunar calendar and ends 15 days later on the first full moon. The dates of the holiday vary … Read more

Ex-Blue Origin leaders’ secretive lunar startup Interlune has moonshot mining plans

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Interlune, a stealth startup headed by ex-Blue Origin executives, is focused on mining the moon for a rare isotope of helium that could be used to scale quantum computing and eventually even fusion power, TechCrunch has learned. Regulatory filings reported here last week showed that the company recently closed $15.5 million in new capital; before … Read more

Japan’s lunar probe regains power nine days after landing upside-down

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Japan’s Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) has been resurrected, over a week after the probe ran out of electricity following its troubled lunar touchdown on January 20th, leaving it upside-down and its solar panels pointing in the wrong direction. On Monday, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) announced that communication with the SLIM spacecraft … Read more