Let’s take a look at Moonlanding’s hits and misses

Landing a spaceship on the moon has been a long series of hits and misses.

The latest casualties came this week after an intuitive machine placed another lander on the moon side through a NASA-sponsored program. Within 24 hours, Lander’s battery was dead and the mission was over.

Last year’s intuitive machine mission lasted a little longer. Despite the hampering operations, it brought the US back to the moon for the first time since the end of the Apollo program.

Another US company, Firefly Aerospace, added its lunar lander to its victory list this week, becoming the first private company to achieve a fully successful lunar landing.

Both Texas businesses are part of NASA’s efforts to support commercial delivery to the moon ahead of the astronaut mission this past decade.

The moon is littered with debris from many years of unsuccessful landings. Overview of the winners and losers of the month:

First victory

The Soviet Union’s Luna 9 touched on the moon in 1966 after its predecessor crashed or missed the moon completely. The US continues four months later with Surveyor 1. Both countries achieve more robotic landings as races heat up to land men.

Apollo Rules

NASA won the Soviet Space Race in 1969, with a lunar landing by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin from Apollo 11. Before the program ends with Apollo 17 in 1972, 12 astronauts will explore the surface in six missions. As it is still the only country that sends humans to the moon, the US hopes to bring its crew back to the surface by the end of 2026, a year after the astronauts’ fly-around.

China appears

In 2013, China will become a third country to land on the moon, delivering rovers called the Yutu tribe, the Chinese of Jay Rabbit. China follows the Yutu-2 Rover in 2019. This time we will land in a far, unexplored place on the moon. A sample return mission near the moon in 2020 produces almost 4 pounds (1.7 kilograms) of moon rocks and soil. Another sample return mission for 2024 provides rocks and soil from less explored parts of the moon. China, considered NASA’s biggest moon rival, aims to have astronauts on the moon by 2030.

Russia stumbles

In 2023, Russia attempted its first lunar landing in nearly half a century, but the Luna 25 spacecraft hit the moon. The country’s former landing officer, Luna 24, not only landed, but also brought the lunar rock back to Earth.

India wins with Take 2

After the first Lander hit the moon in 2019, India will reorganize and release Chandrayaan-3 (Hindi for Mooncraft) in 2023. The craft landed well, becoming the fourth country to help India win a lunar landing. The victory comes just four days after the crash in Russia.

Japan lands sideways

Japan will become the fifth country to succeed on the moon, with the spacecraft landing in January. The craft lands on the wrong side and undermines its ability to generate solar power, but allows you to crank out photos and science before it becomes silent when a long moon night comes in.

Private Moon Landing Attempt

Privately funded Lander from Israel clashes with the moon in 2019 in Hebrew, “first” in Hebrew. ISPACE, a Japanese entrepreneurial company, will launch a lunar lander in 2023, but it will also be destroyed.

The intuitive machine will be your first private outfit to achieve a safe lunar landing. Lander turned that side up in 2024, but worked temporarily with limited communication. Another US company, Foreign Technology – was about to send landing gear to the moon in the same year, but had to give up because of a fuel leak.

This year’s rush to private rush began with Blue Ghost’s landings and providing NASA experiments. Next came the second fallen landing of the intuitive machine. Another commercial landing loom: Japanese iSpace Company aims to land on June 5th after sharing a rocket ride from Florida with Blue Ghost in January.

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