Articles tagged as Moon | Smithsonian Magazine

The latest iteration of the four-legged LEMUR exploration robot clings to a test rock surface in Aaron Parness’ lab in a recent test of its microspine capabilities.

Think Big

A New Generation of Interplanetary Rovers Is Crawling Toward the Stars

These four-legged, wheel-less robots will explore asteroids and the frigid outer worlds of our Solar System

March 22, 2017

What a ring around Mars may have looked like

New Research

Mars May Have Had a Ring in the Past and Could Have One in the Future

The red planet’s moon may have broken apart into a ring of debris and reformed several times over the planet’s history

March 21, 2017

This 230-foot-tall antenna helped NASA locate a long-lost spacecraft.

Cool Finds

NASA Spots India’s Long-Lost Lunar Orbiter

Chandrayaan-1 had been missing for eight years

March 14, 2017

The little moon has drawn comparisons to ravioli, empanadas, and hamburger.

Cool Finds

One of Saturn’s Moons is Making Astronomers Hungry

New images of the tiny moon are drawing comparisons to a ravioli, empanadas, walnuts, hamburgers…nom, nom, nom

March 10, 2017

New Research

New Definition Would Make the Moon and Pluto Planets

A suggested update to the International Astronomical Union criteria would add over 100 planets to the solar system

March 3, 2017

Unlike the Apollo spacecraft, Orion will have solar panels to help power longer space journeys, as shown in this concept art of the spacecraft orbiting Earth.

Ask Smithsonian 2017

What’s Really Changed—and What Hasn’t—About Getting Humans to the Moon

NASA’s Orion will combine vintage tech with massive advances in computing power and electronics we’ve made since 1972

February 28, 2017

After orbiting the moon, Columbia made a nationwide tour that ended in 1971 when the command module came to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C.

Apollo 11 Command Module Makes Another Journey

The command module “Columbia” will visit four U.S. museums, leaving DC for the first time in 46 years.

February 22, 2017

Comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdušáková during its last pass in 2011

There will be a lot going on in the night sky, including a pass by the green comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdušáková

February 8, 2017

Israeli-based SpaceIL is one of five teams given the green light for the Google LunarX Prize.

Cool Finds

One of These Five Finalists Could Make It to the Moon in 2017

The clock is ticking for a trip to the moon and a $20 million prize

January 25, 2017

Apollo 17 mission commander Eugene Cernan inside the lunar module on the moon after his second moonwalk of the mission. His spacesuit is covered with lunar dust.

His experience helped make spaceflight safer

January 17, 2017

Three of Saturn's moons photographed by the Cassini spacecraft

New Research

Earth’s Moon Could Be Made From 20 Mini Moons

Our celestial buddy could have formed after multiple impacts—not one giant smash up

January 11, 2017

Lucian's space travelers witness a battle between the forces of the Sun and the Moon, which includes outlandish creatures like three-headed vultures and space spiders.

History of Now

The Intergalactic Battle of Ancient Rome

Hundreds of years before audiences fell in love with Star Wars, one writer dreamt of battles in space

December 14, 2016

It hasn’t been this close since 1948 and won’t be again for the next 18 years

November 11, 2016

Pan Am promoted its "First Moon Flights" Club on radio and TV after the Apollo 8 mission in 1968, saying that "fares are not fully resolved, and may be out of this world."

I Was a Card-Carrying Member of the “First Moon Flights” Club

My card is now a historical museum artifact, but I’ll never give up my dream to fly to the Moon

October 20, 2016

A before-and-after composite shows the lunar surface with a surprising starburst-like jet pattern.

New Research

Craters Are Forming on the Moon Faster Than Anyone Predicted

New research digs into the changes on the pockmarked lunar surface

October 17, 2016

Space Shuttle Atlantis lifts off on NASA's final space shuttle mission from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida on July 8, 2011.

Some leaps, launches and grand plans for the future

October 13, 2016

It’s just a trumped-up nickname for a new moon

September 28, 2016

This composite image shows suspected plumes of water vapor erupting at the 7 o’clock position off of Jupiter’s moon Europa.

New Research

Evidence Stacks Up for Icy Geysers Erupting on Europa

Possible water plumes could give researchers a way to study Jupiter’s moon without drilling

September 27, 2016

A harvest moon peeking through the trees on September 8, 2014.

This will be the last harvest moon eclipse until 2024

September 16, 2016

The first photo of Earth from the moon was taken on August 23, 1966.

Cool Finds

Fifty Years Ago, This Photo Captured the First View of Earth From the Moon

And Earth’s view of itself changed forever

August 23, 2016