Lunar exploration history at the University of Arizona is being remembered on International Moon Day.
July 20th marks the anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969.
University of Arizona planetary scientist Dani DellaGiustina says interest in celebrating the day has grown over the years.
“International Moon Day is such an opportunity to reflect on what we know and what we’ve learned about the moon, and to celebrate it as this really iconic object in our night skies," she said.
Legendary space scientist Gerard Kuiper established the UA’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory in 1960, to continue his work mapping the moon’s surface. He developed a lunar atlas based on photographs taken through telescopes in the Santa Catalina Mountains.
Later, Kuiper and his team used pictures from moon-orbiting satellites to identify landing sites for NASA's Apollo missions, including Apollo 11.
DellaGiustina notes moon exploration is now shared by almost a dozen countries.
“The science return from having multiple nations on the moon and sending their own planetary science missions is going to be such a benefit. The more we can learn, the better.”
Spacecraft from several nations have orbited the moon. The United States, Japan, India, China and Russia have all landed robotic explorers on the lunar surface, along with Intuitive Machines, a private company, in 2024.
