Russia and India Are Racing to Put Landers on the Moon

For its part, India next plans to partner with Japan on the Lunar Polar Exploration rover, or Lupex, which could launch as early as 2026 and will examine water deposits near the south pole. The US and China have been active on and around the moon for years. NASA and its international and commercial partners […]

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NASA’s InSight Mars Lander’s Days Are Numbered

While InSight’s pair of solar panels, each one shaped like a decagonal (10-sided) pie, efficiently provide solar power to the lander, dust has always been its Achilles’ heel. While dust storms come by frequently—though not as intensely as portrayed in The Martian—they emerge more often during the summer, says Raymond Arvidson, a planetary scientist at […]

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