China achieved a historic feat by returning the first sample from the far side of the moon in June 2024. The lunar lander Chang’e 6 used a robotic scoop and drill to collect about 5 pounds (2 kilograms) of rocks and soil. Those samples were returned to Earth on June 25, 2024. Chang’e 6 built… Read More »
Editor’s Note: Sign up for CNN’s Meanwhile in China bulletin A book that examines what you need to know about the country’s rise and how it has affected the world. When Chinese scientists analyzed soil samples they brought back from the Moon, they noticed something groundbreaking: The soil contained water as well as minerals. Finding… Read More »
Curious Kids is a series for kids of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com. I have a question about ice on the moon. How is that possible? – Olaf, age 9, Hillsborough, North Carolina We are lucky to live in a water world. More… Read More »
When you buy through links in our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn commission. An illustration shows an asteroid breaking up into meteoroid fragments near the moon. | Credit: Robert Lea (Created with Canva)/NASA It’s easy to imagine the Moon as an atmosphere-less hunk of rock orbiting Earth. But despite lacking breathable air,… Read More »
Scientists have long theorized the existence of lunar caves — underground passages formed by volcanic processes and connected to sinkholes that cover the moon’s surface. Now, an international team of researchers has found the first direct evidence that the deepest known sinkhole on the moon is connected to a cave that could provide shelter for… Read More »
China’s Chang’e-6 lunar module returned to Earth on Tuesday, successfully completing its historic mission to collect the first samples from the far side of the moon in a major step for the country’s ambitious space program. The reentry module “landed successfully” at a designated area in China’s northern Inner Mongolia region just after 2pm local… Read More »
Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskids@theconversation.com. Why do some planets have moons and some don’t? – Siddharth, 6 years old, Texas On Earth, you can look up at night and see the Moon shining from hundreds… Read More »
The June full moon, also called the Strawberry Moon, will occur on June 21 at 21:08 Eastern Daylight Time (0108 UTC June 22). US Naval Observatory. Observers in Oceania are almost full moon pass in front of the star AntaresAlpha Scorpii, the brightest star ScorpionScorpio on June 20th. Moonrise in New York City will occur… Read More »
NASA has its sights set on the Moon and aims to send astronauts back to the lunar surface by 2026 and establish a long-term presence there in the 2030s. However, the Moon is not a very habitable place for humans. Cosmic rays from distant stars and galaxies and solar-powered particles from the Sun bombard the… Read More »
William Anders, who has died aged 90, was an American astronaut who flew on what was considered NASA’s most daring space mission; As a member of the Apollo 8 crew, he became one of the first three men to travel to the Moon; Here they lingered in orbit for a day, capturing mankind’s first close-up… Read More »