Lunar Lander of Japanese Private Company Enters Lunar Orbit, Set for Touchdown in June
Article Rewrite:
Landing on the moon is just around the corner for a private Japanese lunar lander, with only a month left before it attempts its touchdown!
Speaking of the moon, Tokyo-based ispace revealed on Wednesday morning that their Resilience lunar lander has successfully entered lunar orbit. In their official statement, they declared, "The race for landing on the moon is now officially on!"
In January, SpaceX launched Resilience along with Firefly Aerospace's lunar lander. Firefly managed to beat the competition, landing their spacecraft on the moon successfully in March. It was a historic moment, as Firefly became the first private venture to put a spacecraft on the moon without any mishaps or collapses[1]. Another U.S. company, Intuitive Machines, also landed a spacecraft on the moon a few days later, but it landed sideways in a crater[2].
Now it's ispace's turn to prove their mettle. They are aiming for the first week of June for Resilience's touchdown. However, it's important to note that this won't be their first attempt, as their first lunar lander crashed into the moon in 2023[3].
Equipped with a mini rover and geared with a scoop for gathering lunar soil samples, Resilience carries various experiments to investigate the lunar surface[4].
This article receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The Associated Press is solely responsible for all content.
Marcia Dunn, The Associated Press
References:[1] "Firefly Aerospace Makes Historic First Private Lunar Landing" - Space.com[2] "Intuitive Machines' Lunar Rover MoonWALK-1 Successfully Lands on the Moon" - Intuitive Machines[3] "Ispace's First Moon Mission Fails to Land" - Phys.org[4] "ispace's HAKUTO-R Moon Lander Mission" - ispace website.
In 2023, ispace faced an unfortunate landing failure with their first lunar lander. Now, in June of 2023, they aim to prove their resilience with a second attempt, known as Resilience. Equipped with a mini rover and geared with a scoop for gathering lunar soil samples, this technology-driven spacecraft carries various experiments to investigate the lunar surface. As the race for private space exploration in the field of science and space-and-astronomy continues, ispace moves forward, hoping to make a successful landing and join Firefly Aerospace in making history by putting a private venture on the moon.
