Landing on the Moon

When a crew capsule lands on the Earth, it slows down by using parachutes to grab the thick blanket of air in our sky.

But, when a crew capsule (or a robot) lands on the moon, there is no air to grab. A parachute is useless.

The Apollo 12 lunar module, Intrepid, ready to land on Nov. 19, 1969.
Credits: NASA/Richard Gordon

So, to safely land on the moon, we have to use thrust to slow down. This video shows how you can experiment with thrust to build your own moon lander.