To mark half a century since the first astronaut walked on the Moon, Sue Nelson begins this special issue by examining how science was at the forefront of the Apollo missions, which saw more than 50 experiments conducted on the lunar surface. One experiment, the lunar ranging retroreflectors, is still running today, as Robert P Crease explains. Elsewhere, Ling Xin reveals the inside story of China’s Chang’e 4 – the first lander to explore the far side of the Moon – while Ethan Siegel imagines a world in which our Earth had no Moon at all.
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