AP - The cruise to the moon took 3 1/2 months and covered 2 1/2 million miles — far longer than the direct three-day flight by Apollo astronauts.

Reuters - Two robotic probes began orbiting the moon Sunday in preparation for an unprecedented mission to map the lunar interior.

SPACE.com - A pair of NASA spacecraft are ringing in the new year in grand style, with both now successfully circling the moon after journeying through space for more than three months.

Time.com - These satellites probing deep beneath the Moon's surface will analyze its interior structure in unprecedented detail

SPACE.com - A NASA spacecraft is circling the moon, with another closing in today (Jan. 1) in back-to-back lunar arrivals to ring in the New Year at Earth's nearest neighbor.

SPACE.com - The first of two gravity-mapping NASA spacecraft entered into orbit around the moon today (Dec. 31), marking a New Year's arrival in a mission that will study Earth's nearest neighbor from crust to core.

SPACE.com - NASA is counting down to a New Year at the moon with two new robot probes arriving in lunar orbit this weekend. 

SPACE.com - As the year 2011 comes to a close, some might wonder what is looming sky-wise for 2012? What celestial events might we look forward to seeing? 

SPACE.com - On Dec. 21, 2012, many doomsday believers fear the apocalypse — anything from a rogue planet smashing into us to our world spinning end over end. However, the world should expect nothing more next year than the winter solstice, the longest night of the year, NASA says.

SPACE.com - In mid-December, a NASA satellite snapped an image of the disintegration of a large iceberg that first broke away from Antarctica nearly 12 years ago, and has been wandering the Southern Ocean ever since.

SPACE.com - The six astronauts living on the International Space Station may not be able to see fireworks from their orbital home, but the dramatic views of the Earth below will provide a stunning backdrop for them to ring in 2012 from space.

SPACE.com - Mass extinctions are a relatively common theme in the history and evolution of life on Earth, and the most famous one is the extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. A plethora of research has been conducted to determine how the dinosaur era ended, generating theories of massive volcanic eruptions, catastrophic climate change and giant impactors from space.

AP - China plans to launch space labs and manned ships and prepare to build space stations over the next five years, according to a plan released Thursday that shows the country's space program is gathering momentum.

ContributorNetwork - Two newspapers, Florida Today and the Orlando Sentinel, have run pieces about space politics as it pertains to the upcoming Florida Primary. Both articles make some interesting assumptions about the state of play concerning space and the election.

SPACE.com - No matter how exciting your plans are for New Year's, two NASA spacecraft have you beat — they've got a date with the moon.

SPACE.com - The European Southern Observatory's plan to begin construction of the world's largest telescope — the European Extremely Large Telescope — will take a big step forward in 2012 now that early funding for the project has been secured.

SPACE.com - PARIS — The Chinese government on Thursday (Dec. 29) issued a broad statement on its five-year space program, saying top priorities include developing three new launch vehicles — including a rapid-response launch system — and mitigating its contribution to space debris.

Reuters - Russia's deputy prime minister vowed Thursday to punish "sleepy" security officials after bloggers posted dozens of photos of an apparently unguarded strategic military rocket motor factory near Moscow.

SPACE.com - The island was created by a wild eruption that occurred in the Red Sea earlier this month. It is made of loose volcanic debris from the eruption, so it may not stick around long.

SPACE.com - After five years of surprising quiet, the sun roared to life in 2011.