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What's New in Lunar & Planetary Science

Launch of the Firefly Blue Ghost Mission 1 lunar lander has been set for a launch window opening no earlier than mid-January 2025. For more, see the NASA news release.

The NASA Lucy asteroid mission will make its second Earth flyby on 13 December.

This Day in Planetary and Lunar Exploration History

1546: Tycho Brahe born.
1962: Mariner 2 flies by Venus, becoming the first operating spacecraft to encounter another planet.
1972: Gene Cernan steps off the lunar surface into the Apollo 17 LM to end the final Apollo visit to the Moon.
2003: Nozomi passes by Mars at 1000 km altitude, fails to go into orbit.
2013: Chinese Chang'e 3 spacecraft lands on the Moon, first lander since 1976.