Moon lander preps for the lunar surface | Space photo of the day for May 6, 2026

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Blue Origin's moon lander has passed its tests in the vacuum chamber.

This marks one big step forward for the company and its possible participation in humanity's return to the moon.

What is it?

Blue Origin's uncrewed cargo lunar lander, called Moon Mark 1 (MK1) and nicknamed Endurance, has completed its testing in the vacuum chamber, NASA shared on May 4.

The lander, which is being developed in support of NASA's Artemis program, was tested in Thermal Vacuum Chamber A at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. These tests evaluated how the spacecraft can hold up against extreme temperatures, and modeled how it will eventually fare in the extreme environments of spaceflight and in the vacuum of outer space.

Why is it incredible?

Blue Origin's lander is being developed as part of NASA's Artemis program, which aims to return humans to the lunar surface in 2028.

With the recent success of Artemis 2, which saw astronauts fly around the moon and back, the program established the first human presence at the moon since the agency's Apollo program launched its last lunar mission in 1972.

MK1 is scheduled to carry NASA science experiments and technology to the moon's south pole as early as late 2026. The success of this test represents a step forward in solidifying the public-private partnership that will support this return to the moon.

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Chelsea Gohd served as a Senior Writer for Space.com from 2018 to 2022 before returning in 2026, covering everything from climate change to planetary science and human spaceflight in both articles and on-camera in videos. With a M.S. in Biology, Chelsea has written and worked for institutions including NASA JPL, the American Museum of Natural History, Scientific American, Discover Magazine Blog, Astronomy Magazine, and Live Science. When not writing, editing or filming something space-y, Gohd is writing music and performing as Foxanne, even launching a song to space in 2021 with Inspiration4. You can follow her online @chelsea.gohd and @foxanne.music