Lunar and Planetary Science at the NSSDCA

+ Visit the NASA Portal
+ NSSDCA Home

What's New in Lunar & Planetary Science

The CNSA (China) Chang'e-6 lunar sample return mission is scheduled to launch on May 3 at 7:50 UT (3:50 a.m. EDT) on a Long March 5 booster from Wenchang Satellite Launch Center.

The Voyager 1 spacecraft successfully started transmitting engineering data on 20 April for the first time since November 14, 2023. A software fix circumvented a chip failure that had prevented useful data from being sent. For more, see the JPL news release.

Communications were reestablished with the Japanese SLIM lunar lander on March 26 after it survived its second lunar night.

This Day in Planetary and Lunar Exploration History

1848: Asteroid 9 Metis discovered by Andrew Graham.
1983: Pioneer 10 becomes the first spacecraft to reach a distance from the Sun greater than Pluto.
1990: Deployment of the Hubble Space Telescope from space shuttle Discovery.