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Small BodiesStories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.
Why are there no stars in most space images?
Look up at space at night from a dark location and you can see innumerable stars. Why, then, do photos of so many things in space show black space, devoid of stars?
Israeli Beresheet Moon lander ships to Florida for mid-February launch
Launch is currently set for 19 February, and Beresheet will spend two months traveling to the Moon ahead of touchdown in April.
Chang'e-4 update: Both vehicles healthy, new imagery from the Moon’s far side
Everything is going well 9 days after China's Chang'e-4 mission made a historic landing on the far side of the Moon, the country's space program said today.
Chang'e 4: Why the Moon's far side looks red in new images
In Apollo images — and to our own eyes, from Earth — the Moon is grey. What's going on?
Chang'e-4 deploys rover on far side of the Moon
The rover is named Yutu-2, China's space agency announced.
China successfully lands Chang'e-4 on far side of Moon
It’s a space feat no nation has accomplished until now.
Chang’e-4 Successfully Enters Lunar Orbit
Following a 4.6-day cruise, on 12 December at 8:45 Beijing time (16:45 UTC), the spacecraft arrived in lunar orbit, preparing for a landing in early January.
Here's (almost) everything you need to know about Israel's Moon lander
SpaceIL, a privately funded Israeli non-profit, will attempt to land a small spacecraft on the Moon in early 2019.
Imaging the Earth from Lunar orbit
Radio amateurs around the world worked together to take an image of the Earth and the far side of the Moon.
NASA Then & Now
A collection of before and after slider images showing how views of planets in our solar system have changed over the years since NASA was created.
Farside Landing and Nearside Sample Return
Long Xiao previews two ambitious Chinese lunar missions, one of which will make the first-ever landing on the far side of the Moon.
The September Equinox 2018 Issue of The Planetary Report Is Out!
With my first issue of The Planetary Report as editor, I am taking the magazine open-access. Return to Mercury features articles by Elsa Montagnon on BepiColombo and by Long Xiao on the Chang'e-4 and -5 landers.
Chandrayaan-2
Sriram Bhiravarasu anticipates India’s 2019 lunar venture with an orbiter, lander, and rover.
Chandrayaan-2 launch delayed to 3 January 2019
Chandrayaan-2, expected to launch in October, will now be launching no earlier than 3 January 2019, with its lander and rover touching down in February.
How the Apollo missions transformed our understanding of the Moon’s origin
Where did the Moon come from? The origin of our cosmic neighbor is a fundamental question in planetary science.
How are we preparing astronauts for a return to the Moon?
Returning to the Moon won’t be easy, even though we’ve been there before.
Chang'e 4 relay satellite, Queqiao: A bridge between Earth and the mysterious lunar farside
China's fourth lunar mission, Chang’e 4, is expected to begin on May 21 with the launch of a Long March 4C rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in the southwest of China. The launch will carry a spacecraft named Queqiao, which will serve as a communication relay satellite between Earth and the lunar farside.
A brief history of Resource Prospector, NASA's cancelled lunar mission
The mission survived NASA's Journey to Mars era, only to be axed once short-term goals shifted back to the Moon.
#LPSC2018: What the Moon's craters tell us about Earth's past climate
You might be surprised to learn that studying craters on the Moon can tell us about ancient Earth.
ISS partners consider ambitious lunar sample return mission
The plan involves NASA's proposed Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway, and a return to Earth via the Orion spacecraft.