Japan’s Resilience lander Nears Moon Touchdown: Historic Attempt
TOKYO – May 29, 2024 – On June 5, Japan’s Resilience lander is scheduled to attempt a historic moon touchdown, marking a significant moment for the country’s space program. the mission, led by ispace, will see the lander touch down in Mare Frigoris. This attempt follows previous lunar successes adn failures by Japan. This mission seeks to advance Japan’s presence, and with successful landing, would mark a new era for space exploration.
Japan’s Resilience lander Nears Moon Touchdown: A Historic Attempt
Japan’s private Resilience lunar lander, operated by Tokyo-based ispace, is gearing up for a historic touchdown attempt on June 5.Just two weeks before this pivotal moment, ispace shared a captivating image of the moon’s south polar region, captured by Resilience from lunar orbit.
The image, posted on X, showcases the rugged terrain and geological features of the lunar surface. ispace playfully noted, Resilience snapped this photo of the moon’s south pole from lunar orbit, capturing the rough terrain of the many geological features of the lunar surface (which some say look like cheese from afar!). this image presents an optical illusion to some – even though the image is filled with concave craters, from this orientation they may look like they are convex to the eye.What do you see: craters or bumps?
Resilience snapped this photo of the moon's south pole from lunar orbit, capturing the rough terrain of the many geological features of the lunar surface (which some say look like cheese from afar!). This image presents an optical illusion to some – although the image is filled with concave… pic.twitter.com/9NlVn2304S
— ispace (@ispace_inc) May 22, 2024
The Journey to the Moon
- launch: Resilience launched on Jan. 15 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
- Shared Ride: The Falcon 9 also carried Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lander.
- Blue Ghost’s Success: blue ghost successfully landed on the moon on march 2, becoming the second commercial vehicle to achieve this feat, following Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus.
- Resilience’s Route: Resilience took a longer, energy-efficient route, arriving in lunar orbit on May 6.
Touchdown Target: Mare Frigoris
Resilience is scheduled to land in Mare Frigoris (“Sea of Cold”), a volcanic plain in the moon’s northern hemisphere. A prosperous landing would mark a notable achievement for ispace and Japan. Japan’s only other moon landing was by the SLIM (“Smart Lander for investigating Moon”) spacecraft, operated by JAXA, in January 2024.
ispace previously attempted a moon landing in March 2023 with its first lander, but the mission failed during its touchdown try after the lander was confused by the rim of a crater.
Payload and Purpose
Resilience carries five science and technology payloads, including a miniature rover named Tenacious. This rover, built by ispace’s European subsidiary, will attempt to collect lunar soil under a contract with NASA.
Tenacious also carries a piece of art called “Moonhouse
” by Swedish artist Mikael Genberg.
