The lunar challenges

The repeated setbacks prompt a pressing question: If we could put humans on the moon in 1969, why are we stumbling now?

Space exploration is challenging but to replicate what had been achieved way back in the late 1960s and early 1970s with humans onboard should have been smooth in our modern age.

In February, the private sector took a giant leap with its first successful moon landing but it was far from spectacular — Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus spacecraft settled on the lunar surface at an awkward angle, crippling the mission.

Earlier in January, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) and a commercial partner, Astrobotic, took a first step towards returning US robotic instruments to the moon, but failed. The same month, JAXA’s