NASA picked Elon Musk’s SpaceX to receive $2.9 billion to build a lunar lander as part of the Artemis mission to send humans to the Moon by 2024, the agency announced today. It’s a major vote of confidence in SpaceX from NASA — as no other company received money. The contract between NASA and SpaceX is expected to be signed on May 1.

We don't know how we missed this story, but a few years ago, a NASA intern was convicted of moon rock theft—specifically, he stole moon rocks so he could have sex with his girlfriend on them.

BUDAPEST (Reuters) - A miniature rover being developed to explore the Moon’s surface is on track to join the search for water there, its Hungarian inventors believe - using a device that weighs less than a bag of sugar.

A photographer in Guatemala received a great chance to capture an incredible photograph of the moon disguised as Saturn. This majestic photograph was shot from the perspective of the Acatenango volcano base camp. Thanks to the photographer Francisco Sojuel's six hour long hike we are able to witness a once in a life-time scenery by our eyes.

When the 60-year-old Arecibo Observatory collapsed in 2020, the crash didn’t just take down one of the world's preeminent radio telescopes, it also dealt a massive blow to the future of radio astronomy. Arecibo may have been old, but it also had unique capabilities that made it ideal for studying things like gravitational waves, as well as mapping the surfaces of asteroids as they slip by Earth.

Chinese ground crews are standing by for the return of a lunar probe bringing back the first fresh samples of rock and debris from the moon in more than 40 years. The Chang'e probe is expected to land in the Siziwang district of the vast Inner Mongolia region late Wednesday or early Thursday. It fired its engines early Wednesday to put it on course before the orbiter separates from the return vehicle, with all systems functioning as expected, the China National Space Administration said.

The US space agency NASA published a voluminous report on Monday outlining the scientific priorities for the Artemis III astronauts it intends to send to the Moon in 2024. One of the goals will be to bring back a total of 85 kilograms (187 pounds) of lunar samples, both from the surface and sub-surface, more than the average 64 kilograms brought back by Apollo mission members between 1969 and 1972.

China has planted its flag on the Moon, more than 50 years after the US first planted the Stars and Stripes there. The pictures from China's National Space Administration show the five-starred Red Flag holding still on the windless lunar surface. They were taken by a camera on the Chang'e-5 space probe before it left the Moon with rock samples on Thursday.

The US space agency has awarded two American and one Japanese firm contracts to pick up lunar soil.

NASA plans to build a nuclear power plant on the moon and Mars to support its long-term exploration plans.

Chang’e-5 has just one lunar day to collect lunar material from a previously unexplored region of the Moon’s near side.

A rare Blue Moon will appear this weekend, coinciding with Halloween for the first time in more than 70 years. The full moon will rise in the east at 4.53pm in the UK on Saturday, less than 20 minutes after the sun sets. It is the second full moon this month — the first was on 1 October — which earns it the name “Blue Moon”.

New observations of the Moon reveal that lunar water may be more accessible than originally thought. The new data is particularly exciting for NASA, which hopes to leverage the Moon’s resources — notably water ice embedded in the soil — to help future astronauts live and work on the lunar surface.

NASA is expected to announce a new discovery about the moon on Monday. The space agency plans to share findings from its Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) mission during a press conference at 12 p.m. EDT.

If you were wondering what Nokia had been up to since the everlasting brick phone, and thought it had dropped off the face of the earth, turns out, it has, in a big way. Nokia is leaps and bounds ahead of the game, yet again—this time, without snakes. It’s off to the moon with more of an ‘ET, call home’ situation in mind. What are NASA and Nokia planning to do out there?

European space officials will this week unveil detailed plans for a series of ambitious missions aimed at returning humans to the moon in the next few years. Projects will include construction of crew quarters for an orbiting lunar space station, making the power and propulsion units for America’s Orion spacecraft, and designing and building a sophisticated communication and refuelling unit, known as Esprit, to serve astronauts on the lunar surface. These missions will be carried out jointly with Nasa and the Japanese and Canadian space agencies.

NASA needs to have a new lunar lander and giant rocket ready by next year in order to return astronauts to the moon by 2024, the space agency's chief Jim Bridenstine told Congress Wednesday (Sept. 23). In a Senate appropriations committee hearing, Bridenstine said NASA aims to send an uncrewed mission, called Artemis 1, around the moon in November 2021 to prepare for the first orbital mission with astronauts two years later, Artemis 2. The Artemis 3 mission would follow, sending astronauts to the south pole of the moon in 2024.

NASA has postponed its upcoming mission to the moon of Saturn, Titan, which can support life, citing the budgetary concerns that were raised due to the coronavirus or COVID-19. In a statement posted by the space research organization, the agency stated that the launch that was originally planned to take place in 2026, is going to happen in 2027.

If NASA is going to have a long-term presence on the Moon, it’s going to need an alternative to typical solar power — lunar nights can last for over two weeks in some cases. And the agency is turning to outsiders for help. It’s partnering with HeroX on a “Watts on the Moon” crowdsourcing challenge that offers up to $5 million in total prizes if you can create energy solutions for Moon missions. The frontrunners won’t even have to wait until the technology is approved before it goes on a lunar trip.

NASA is definitely targeting the moon's south pole for a crewed landing in 2024 — but that timeline will be difficult to achieve if Congress doesn't open its purse strings, and fast, agency chief Jim Bridenstine said. During a presentation with NASA's Lunar Exploration Analysis Group last Monday (Sept. 14), Bridenstine seemed to suggest that the agency is open to a more equatorial site for the 2024 touchdown, a key milestone in NASA's Artemis program of crewed lunar exploration.