With two commercial lunar landers already on their way, Houston-based Intuitive Machines has high hopes for its second robotic lander — Athena, the centerpiece of a multi-element, NASA-sponsored mission — launching Wednesday to help pave the way for human expeditions and search for ice.

Two robotic landers, one from the United States and the other from Japan, are currently in transit toward the moon — and this week a third will join

A pioneering thermal imaging camera built by the University of Oxford is about to launch aboard NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer mission, aiming to locate water sources on the Moon. This small spacecraft will scan the lunar surface for hidden water ice,