The latest U.S. mission to the moon is wrapping up this week, shutting down operations a bit earlier than planned.
But there’s a lot of other space exploration planned for this year — and much of it comes from countries in Asia.
Japan’s first moon lander touched down on the lunar surface a little more than 5 weeks ago — upside down.
But its solar panels were functioning and also survived the deep chill of a lengthy two-week lunar night.
The mission of the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon, or "SLIM," is under the government’s Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.
Later this year the agency plans a robotic voyage to explore the two moons of Mars.
The three-year journey will include a Martian moon landing before returning to Earth.
China plans to send a robotic mission to Earth’s moon sometime in the first half of this year to collect samples from the surface of the far side of the lunar landscape.
The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation says the government remains on track to put astronauts on the moon before 2030.
That’s around the time that India plans to send a helicopter along with a landing vehicle on its next mission to Mars.
The Indian Space Research Organization wants to use the helicopter to fly around the surface of the planet and develop a more detailed picture of the Martian atmosphere.
