A Japanese company called ispace is trying to land on the moon. If successful, it will become the first private company to achieve such a feat, following in the footsteps of the US, Chinese and Soviet national space agencies.
What is ispace’s mission?
Launch the lunar lander “Hakuto R”. It was launched from Earth on December 11, 2022 on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket.
What time do you land?
At 4:40 pm (BST), the spacecraft will begin its landing sequence from lunar orbit, 100 kilometers above the lunar surface. If all goes according to plan, we will land an hour later at 5:40pm BST.
How can I watch it?
There is a livestream of the landing on YouTube.
where is the landing?
The spacecraft is aiming for a landing site at Atlas Crater A region called Mare Frigolis, or “Cold Sea,” in the northern hemisphere of the Moon, north of all six of NASA’s Apollo landings. Three of his backup sites, also in the northern hemisphere, have been selected.
How big is the spaceship?
Hakuto-R is 2.3 meters high, 2.6 meters wide and weighs about 1000 kg including fuel. It has four landing legs and thrusters for landing on the moon.
Photo taken by ispace at 2000km above the moon
space
what does it carry?
The mission has several payloads for different customers. The Japanese space agency has a small robotic ball that transforms to practice roving on the moon. There’s also a small rover from the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, an all-solid-state battery test by a Japanese company, and his 360-degree camera by a Canadian company.
How do you know if it was successful?
Engineers at Mission Control in Tokyo received data and images from the lander to indicate whether it landed.
what could be the problem?
The lander could hit the moon too fast and be destroyed. This has happened before. For example, in April 2019, her lander called Beresheet from the Israeli company SpaceIL crashed into the surface. In September 2019, the Indian lander Vikram suffered the same fate.
Why is there a renewed interest in the moon?
NASA’s goal of returning humans to the moon in the next decade as part of the Artemis program has generated a lot of interest. A number of companies have been contracted to bring equipment to the moon or, in the case of ispace, to bring back materials from the moon on later missions. A competition known as the Google Lunar Xprize also challenged private companies to reach the moon. It ended in 2018, but some participants, including ispace, are continuing their efforts.
When will we land on the moon next?
A US company called Intuitive Machines will launch to the lunar South Pole in June and may land in the same month. Another US company, Astrobotic, hopes to launch and land in a similar timeframe.
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