Lastyear,wecelebrated50yearssincehumansfirstwalkedonthemoon.Thatwasalongtimeago.Yet,we’restillexploringspacetoday.We’vesentlotsofspacecrafttolookattherestofoursolarsystem.Thesemissionsare unmanned.


Oneofthelatestmissionswentbacktothemoon,buttoadifferentpartofit.ThemoongoesaroundEarthonceamonth,andthesamesidealwaysfacesEarth.Allthemenwhohavevisitedthemoonlandedonthenearside,thesidewecanseefromEarth.Sohavealltheunmannedspacecraftthatsafelylandedonthe moon.


In2019,however,Chinalandedaspacecraftonthefarsideofthemoon.Itlandedinahugecrater.Billionsofyearsago,alargeobjecthitthisarea,carvingoutthecrater.Theimpactwassobig,itkickeduprocksfromthemoon’smantle.That’sthelayerofrockthatliesbelowthecrust.Thespacecraftwillstudytheserocksandseewhatthemoon’smantleismade of.

AviewofEarthfromthesurfaceofthe moon

Alllandings—mannedorunmanned—havetakenplaceonthenearsideofthemoon.AnunmannedChinesespacecraftrecentlylandedonthefar side.

former USSR

United States

mannedApollo missions

China

Measuring'Marsquakes'

Themoonislarge,butit’snotaplanet.Planetsarelarge,round,andorbit,orgoaround,thesun.Ourmoondoesn’torbitthesun.Instead,itorbitsEarth.Earthisaplanet, becauseitgoesaroundthesun.Thereareotherplanets.OneofthenearesttoEarthisMars.Peoplemaytravelthere someday.

In2018,theUnitedStates’NationalAeronauticsandSpaceAdministration(NASA)landedaspacecraftonMarscalledInSight.It’sstudyingthingsthatarehappeninginsidetheplanet.In2019,InSightdetectedthefirst“earthquakes”everobservedonMars.GoodthingInSight’smonitorsaresensitivebecausethesemarsquakeswereveryweak.Ifyoustoodonthesurface,youwouldn’tevenfeel them.

Thisartist’srenderingshowstheInSightspacecraftinvestigatingMars’ interior.

AssessingAsteroids

BeyondthepathofMarsarelotsofsmall,rockyobjectsthatgoaroundthesun.Theseareasteroids.Asteroidsaresmallandirregular.TheyareimportanttostudybecauselongagoobjectssimilartothemcametogethertobuildrockyplanetslikeEarthandMars.Asteroidsmayalsohavevaluablemineralsthatwecould mine.


SomeasteroidscomeclosetoEarth.AJapanesespacecraftisexploringonesuchasteroidnamedRyugu.PicturesfromthespacecraftindicateRyuguisnotperfectlyround.Instead,it’sshapedlikeacube,andithaslotsofboulders.Lastyear,thespacecraftshotabulletattheasteroid.Theblastkickedupmaterial,someofwhichthespacecraftcaught.Thespacecraftwillbringthatmaterialhomesoscientistscanstudy it.

AnotherspacecraftlaunchedfromtheUnitedStates(U.S.).It’sexploringanasteroidnamedBennu.BennuisevensmallerthanRyugu:lessthanathirdofamileacross.Thespacecraftwillsampletheasteroidandlaterbringthatsamplebackto Earth.

ThisimageshowstheBennuasteroidnexttotheEiffelTower,for scale.