Ed Mitchell piloted the Lunar Module on Apollo 14. Credit: NASA After Apollo 13’s near-disaster and aborted Moon landing, Apollo 14 (1971) saw America’s first astronaut, Alan Shepard ...

But last week's launch marked a crucial step to pave the way for NASA to send ... its first lunar program since the Apollo missions came to an end in 1972. The previous landing in February 2024 ...

The $93.3 million mission comes as NASA plans to send humans back to the moon within this decade for the first time since the space agency's Apollo program came to an end more than 50 years ago.