March 31, 2023

Part of the Apollo 11 spacecraft may still be in orbit around the moon

Part of the Apollo 11 spacecraft may still be in orbit around the moon
Part of the Apollo 11 spacecraft may still be in orbit around the moonPart of the Apollo 11 spacecraft may still be in orbit around the moon
Apollo 11 ascent module

The Apollo 11 ascent stage, photographed from the command module in orbit around the moon

MSFC/NASA

A discarded part of the Apollo 11 spacecraft that helped return astronauts from the first visit to the lunar surface may still be in orbit around the moon, rather than having crash-landed as once thought.

On 20 July 1969, NASA astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin made history as the first two humans to land on the moon. They left the surface a day later using the ascent stage of their Eagle lander, rendezvousing with …