[The Past Few Years Mark the Advent of a New Lunar Space Race, With a Fleet of Robotic Spacecraft Trying to Reach the Moon and Carry Out Their Intended Missions.
January Will Kick Off with the Launch of Two Lunar Landers: Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost and Ispace’s Resilience, Aiming to Make Up for Their Previous Missed Missions. The United States and Its Allies, as Well as China, Are Scrambling to Send Robots to the Lunar Surface.
The Missions This Year Are Designed to Pave the Way for Astronauts to Return to the Lunar Surface, As NASA Plans to Do as Soon as 2027.
This Year’s Lunar Shot-On-The-Horizon Includes:
* Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Landering on the Moon’s Near Side, Aiming to Land at Mons Latreille and Test Various Technologies, Including Lunar Soil Collection and Solar Wind Interactions.
* Ispace’s Resilience Landering on the Moon’s Far Side, Carrying a Tiny Rover and Various Technology Instruments.
* Houston-Based Intuitive Machines’ Athena Landering at the Moon’s South Pole, Targeting Water Ice Deposits.
* Blue Origin’s Prototype Landers, Which Will Test Their Design and Engine Capabilities Before Being Used for Future Human-Carrying Missions.
NASA Is Also Sending the Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment 1 and the Lunar Trailblazer, A Satellite Designed to Orbit the Moon and Search for Water.
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