Moon rovers

Japan's robotic SLIM spacecraft arrived in lunar orbit today (Dec. 24) ahead of a historic moon touchdown attempt that's scheduled for Jan. 19.

Intuitive Machines will wait an extra month, until mid-February 2024, to send a private moon lander into space atop a SpaceX rocket.

The Australian Space Agency has named its first lunar rover Roo-ver, which will launch to the moon as early as 2026 in partnership with NASA's Artemis program.

Japan's robotic SLIM spacecraft will make the nation's first-ever moon landing on Jan. 19, if all goes according to plan.

The final four names are "Coolamon," "Kakirra," "Mateship" and "Roo-ver." The public can vote for their favorite through Dec. 1.

NASA's first robotic moon rover is ready for final assembly and testing, and you can watch engineers bring the lunar explorer to life.

Photos taken from lunar orbit show India's Chandrayaan-3 moon landing produced "ejecta halo," a huge ring-shaped plume of moon dust that the Vikram lander's thrusters left in the lunar soil.

NASA engineers created a simulated lunar environment, including large rocks, steep slopes and deep craters, to test the mobility of a new moon rover prototype called VIPER.

Lunar dust can be a hazard for off-world rovers — so scientists are suggesting we create a road system on the moon.

Sulfur in soils near the moon's poles might help astronauts live off the land one day, making these measurements an example of science that enables exploration.