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Scientists will attempt six moon landings in 2024, starting with the Vulcan rocket
Scientists from around the world will attempt six moon landings in 2024, starting with the Peregrine-1 onboard the Vulcan Centaur rocket.
Todays rocket launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, was a truly special moment as not only was this the first American launch to the moons surface in decades, but also one of the few times that human ashes have been put on board to be scattered on the lunar surface. Now as we look ahead to the rest of 2024, scientists from around the world are hoping to land on the moons surface six times this year.
Scientists hope to land on the moon six times in 2024
2024 is set to be an extremely interesting year for spaceflight, with countless innovations and landmark milestones set to be revealed over the next 12 months.
Whilst NASAs planned Artemis 2 mission will see astronauts being sent around the moon on a ten-day lunar flyby, there are six missions that will attempt to actually land specialized equipment on the moons surface this year:
Peregrine-1: On board the Vulcan Centaur rocket that launched on January 8, this lunar lander is built by Astrobotic and funded by NASA. If the lander successfully touches down in late-February as scheduled, Astrobotic will be the first private company to have officially landed on the moon.
SLIM: The first lunar landing of 2024 is expected to touch down on January 20, the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.
Nova-C: Also funded by NASA but built by Houston-based Intuitive Machines, there are actually three different Nova-C landers planned to reach the lunar surface this year; the first of which will be on board the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in February.
- WOW: Vulcan launch proves sending your loved ones ashes to space costs less than the average funeral
Change 6: China plans to send its Change 6 rover to collect the first rock and soil samples from the far side of the moon, the launch is currently scheduled for May 2024.
Blue Ghost: The Texas-based company Firefly Aerospace has its own lunar lander called Blue Ghost, which is planning its maiden voyage in Q3 2024.
VIPER: NASAs own Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) is planned to launch on SpaceXs Falcon Heavy rocket in November 2024, and is expected to land on the lunar surface later that same month.
There are plenty more rocket launches expected in January 2024
The Vulcan Centaur rocket launched at approximately 7:18 AM GMT on the morning of January 8 and was live streamed around the world on YouTube, as well as via many mainstream media outlets.
The good news is that if you missed todays big rocket launch, there will be plenty more chances to see a live lift-off throughout January 2024.
Following the launch of Vulcans VC2S Peregrine lunar lander on January 8, there are plenty of rockets either scheduled or expected to launch between now and the end of January, as reported by Space Launch Schedule:
- Einstein Probe, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation January 9
- Starlink Group 7-10, SpaceX January 10
- Kinetica 1, CAS Space January 11
- IGS Optical 8, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries January 11
- Gravity-1, Orienspace Technology January 11
- Starlink Group 6-37, SpaceX January 14
- Tianzhou 7, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation January 15
- Axiom Space Mission 3, SpaceX January 17
- Galactic 06, Virgin Galactic January 26
- INSAT-3DS, Indian Space Research Organization January 26
- Cygnus CRS-2 NG-20, SpaceX January 29
As always, rocket launches are dependent on various factors and described dates might be altered on the day due to things like weather.
The good news is that if you missed todays big rocket launch, there will be plenty more exciting Space-based events later in 2024.
