This story appears in the July 2019 issue of National Geographic magazine ... missions to create the February 1969 hand-­painted map—considered the best reference at the time.

The Moon is our closest cosmic neighbor, and yet little is ever said about its geography. Today we're diving deeper into why this is and why this might not be the case forever!

Lunar Trailblazer, an orbiter that shared a launch on Wednesday with the commercial Athena lander, will help scientists ...