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January Was One Hell of Month in Spaceflight
We knew 2024 was going to be a landmark year in spaceflight, and judging by the wide range of developments in just the first month, we’re in for an extraordinary ride throughout the rest of the year. It’s been a wild month in space. NASA finally cracked open its asteroid sample container, revealing cosmic secrets…
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The Most Precious Human Relics Left in Space
Being the space nerd that I am, I often imagine a museum filled with the most important objects ever sent to space. We couldn’t possibly build a place like this, but we can speculate as to which human artifacts deserve a place in our imaginary spaceflight museum. Most things sent to space are utilitarian and…
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Sunlight May Reignite Japan’s Struggling ‘Lunar Sniper’ on the Moon
Japan’s space agency, JAXA, achieved a historic soft landing with SLIM on Friday morning, but the lander ran into instant trouble by not being able to collect solar energy and generate electricity. Hopeful for some westerly sunshine, JAXA is cautiously optimistic that SLIM could spring back to life in a couple of weeks. Shortly after…
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A First-of-Its-Kind ‘Pinpoint’ Moon Landing Could Happen This Week
We’re still reeling from last week’s Astrobotic failure, in which a catastrophic propellant leak rendered the Peregrine lunar lander incapable of completing its Moon landing mission. It’s not the outcome we were hoping for, but the global space community doesn’t have to wait long for another opportunity at lunar exploration success: Japan’s SLIM is slated…