Why Is It So Hard To Land On The Moon?

Published: Sept. 17, 2019, 5:29 p.m.

India’s attempt to land a rover on the moon appears to have ended in failure. The Indian space agency lost contact with the lander during a touchdown attempt earlier this month. It follows the landing failure of another mission -- SpaceIL’s attempt to land the Beresheet spacecraft on the moon earlier this year. So what makes these lunar missions so hard?