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1 week ago | 
yahoo.com | Leonard David
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Astronaut Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., lunar module pilot of the first lunar landing mission, poses for a photograph beside the deployed United States flag during an Apollo 11 extravehicular activity (EVA) on the lunar surface on July 20, 1969. . | Credit: NASAA number of groups and individuals say there's a need to protect lunar history before it's too late.
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1 week ago | 
leonarddavid.com | Leonard David
The World Monuments Fund released its 2025 “Watch list” that sees the moon as a celestial sore point, tagging it as an “at risk” historic site. The hope is to thwart the threat of select lunar areas from damage, even looting and exploitative visitation by future lunar tourists. In fact, numbers of groups and individuals are saying there’s need to protect lunar heritage – before it’s too late.
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1 week ago | 
leonarddavid.com | Leonard David
China’s Tianwen-2 asteroid sample return mission is now underway, launched early Thursday. A Long March-3B booster sent the probe skyward from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China’s Sichuan Province at 1:31 a.m. (Beijing Time). The Tianwen-2 probe was sent into a transfer orbit from Earth to the asteroid 2016HO3. It will journey for about one year to reach its first target, according to the China National Space Administration (CNSA).
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1 week ago | 
space.com | Leonard David
A number of groups and individuals say there's a need to protect lunar history before it's too late. The World Monuments Fund released its 2025 "Watch list," which lists the moon as an "at risk" historic site. The hope is to protect select lunar areas from damage, or even from looting and exploitative visitation by future lunar tourists.
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1 week ago | 
leonarddavid.com | Leonard David
SpaceX has posted a Starship ninth flight test report. The Super Heavy/Starship lifted off at 6:36 p.m. Central Time on Tuesday, May 27 from Starbase, Texas. Roaring out of Starbase, the booster performed a full-duration ascent burn with all 33 of its Raptor engines and separated from Starship’s upper stage in a hot-staging maneuver. During separation, Super Heavy performed the first “deterministic flip” followed by its boostback burn.
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1 week ago | 
leonarddavid.com | Leonard David
Private companies — Astrobotic, Intuitive Machines, Blue Origin, and Firefly Aerospace — are heralding a new era of lunar exploration by developing landers in collaboration with NASA. 2025 marks a significant year with multiple lunar lander missions – but a hit and miss track record. These Moon missions aim to analyze lunar soil, test new technologies, and search for water ice. This informative (musical review) of what missions have worked, what hasn’t, and what’s next.
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1 week ago | 
leonarddavid.com | Leonard David
The most ambitious project to date searching for signs of technology as an indicator of extraterrestrial intelligence is partnering with ASTRON, the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, and the University of Manchester, to deploy a new all-sky monitor at the Westerbork Observatory in the Netherlands. Westerbork Observatory is one of the last remaining radio quiet zones in Europe.
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1 week ago | 
leonarddavid.com | Leonard David
“Let’s call it a web of intrigue.” NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover at Gale Crater has entered bizarre terrain. This Mars Guy video notes that nearly two decades after they were first discovered, the rover has begun to explore web-like features known as boxwork structures. “Answers to how they formed and why they’re bigger than any on Earth are now emerging,” says Mars Guy. Go to:https://youtu.be/cECxDMnDvBU?si=PoaqV0byhfoE_2Mq
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2 weeks ago | 
leonarddavid.com | Leonard David
The Shenzhou-20 crew on board China’s orbiting space station completed their mission’s first series of extravehicular activities last Thursday. Chen Dong and Chen Zhongrui worked for about eight hours outside China’s orbiting complex. Wang Jie assisted the pair throughout the mission from inside the Tiangong space station, with the space walk tasks aided by a team on Earth. Node cabinChen Dong and Chen Zhongrui exited through the node cabin of the Tianhe core module.
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2 weeks ago | 
leonarddavid.com | Leonard David
SpaceX is prepared to launch the ninth flight test of Super Heavy/Starship as soon as Tuesday, May 27. The launch window will open at 6:30 p.m. Central (Texas) Time. “As is the case with all developmental testing, the schedule is dynamic and likely to change,” said SpaceX. Meanwhile, SpaceX has provided a technical summary of the Starship flight 8 mishap investigation, with several hardware changes being made to increase reliability of flight 9’s mission.
