For the first time in more than half a century, humans are preparing to leave Earth’s orbit and head near the moon, with NASA’s Artemis 2 mission set to launch in 2026. Decades after the last Apollo astronauts gazed back at our celestial neighbor,

A growing fleet of privately built spacecraft is preparing to attempt robotic landings on the moon as humanity's exploration efforts expand.

NASA’s plans to launch astronauts to the moon in early 2026. The Artemis II mission is expected to carry a crew around the moon — though not to the lunar surface.

The next phase of the Commercial Lunar Payload Services moon exploration program began on Jan. 15, with the launch of the Firefly Blue Ghost. It continued with the launch of the Intuitive Machines Athena lander on Feb. 26. Since the Blue Ghost also had the ...

Lunar exploration will surge in 2026 as NASA, China, and private companies race to land spacecraft and robots on the moon

Over half of the exhaust methane from lunar spacecraft could end up contaminating areas of the moon that might otherwise yield clues about the origins of Earthly life, according to a recent study. The pollution could unfold rapidly regardless of a spacecraft's touchdown site;

As lunar missions increase, scientists warn that spacecraft exhaust may contaminate sensitive regions of the moon faster than expected.