Japanese startup attempts Moon landing
If successful, it will be only the third private mission to the Earth's rocky natural satellite ever completed, and the first by a company based outside the United States.
The startup, ispace, says touchdown is expected at 4:17 am Japan time on Friday (1917 GMT Thursday) with the potentially nail-biting attempt streamed on its website.
Resilience is "ready to attempt a historic landing on the Moon" and "we are confident in our preparations for success", ispace CEO Takeshi Hakamada said last week.
"We have leveraged the operational experience gained in Mission 1 and during this current voyage to the Moon," he said in a statement.
Only five nations have soft-landed spacecraft on the Moon -- the Soviet Union, the United States, China, India and Japan.
And now companies are vying to offer cheaper and more frequent space exploration opportunities than governments.
Last year, the Houston-based Intuitive Machines became the first private enterprise to touch down on the Moon.
Although its uncrewed craft landed at the wrong angle, it was still able to complete tests and send photos.
Then in March this year, Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost -- launched on the same SpaceX rocket as ispace's Resilience -- aced its lunar landing attempt.
Despite their rocket ride-share, Resilience took longer to reach the Moon than Blue Ghost, and ispace is now hoping for its own moment of glory, after its first mission resulted in an unsalvageable "hard landing" in 2023.
Landing on the Moon is highly challenging as spacecraft must rely on precisely controlled thruster burning to slow their descent.
Intuitive Machines' second attempt at a Moon landing ended in disappointment in late March.
Its spacecraft Athena, designed to touch down on a spot called the Mons Mouton plateau -- closer to the lunar south pole than any previous mission -- tipped over and was unable to recharge its solar-powered batteries.
Meanwhile another Japanese startup, Space One, has been trying to become the country's first private firm to put a satellite into orbit.
Its latest rocket launch attempt in December blasted off but was later seen spiralling downwards in the distance as the company said the launch had to be terminated.
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France 24
19 hours ago
- France 24
Japanese company abandons Moon landing mission after losing contact with spacecraft
Japan 's hopes of achieving its first soft touchdown on the Moon by a private company were dashed Friday when the mission was aborted after an assumed crash-landing, the startup said. Tokyo-based ispace had hoped to make history as only the third private firm -- and the first outside the United States -- to achieve a controlled arrival on the lunar surface. But "based on the currently available data... it is currently assumed that the lander likely performed a hard landing", the startup said. "It is unlikely that communication with the lander will be restored" so "it has been decided to conclude the mission", ispace said in a statement. The failure comes two years after a prior mission ended in a crash. The company's unmanned Resilience spacecraft began its daunting final descent and "successfully fired its main engine as planned to begin deceleration", ispace said Friday. Mission control confirmed that the lander's positioning was "nearly vertical" -- but contact was then lost, with the mood on a livestream from mission control turning sombre. Technical problems meant "the lander was unable to decelerate sufficiently to reach the required speed for the planned lunar landing", ispace said. High-profile payloads To date, only five nations have achieved soft lunar landings: the Soviet Union, the United States, China, India, and most recently Japan. Now, private companies are joining the race, promising cheaper and more frequent access to space. On board the Resilience lander were several high-profile payloads. They included Tenacious, a Luxembourg -built micro rover; a water electrolyser to split molecules into hydrogen and oxygen; a food production experiment; and a deep-space radiation probe. The rover also carried "Moonhouse" -- a small model home designed by Swedish artist Mikael Genberg. "I take the fact that the second attempt failed to land seriously," CEO Takeshi Hakamada told reporters. "But the most important thing is to use this result" for future missions, he said, describing a "strong will to move on, although we have to carefully analyse what happened". Last year, Houston-based Intuitive Machines became the first private enterprise to reach the Moon. Though its uncrewed lander touched down at an awkward angle, it still managed to complete tests and transmit photos. Then in March this year, Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost -- launched on the same SpaceX rocket as ispace's Resilience -- aced its lunar landing attempt. Never quit The mood ahead of Friday's attempt had been celebratory, with a watch party also held by ispace's US branch in Washington. After contact was lost, announcers on an ispace livestream signed off with the message: "Never quit the lunar quest." The mission had also aimed to collect two lunar soil samples and sell them to NASA for $5,000. Though the samples would remain on the Moon, the symbolic transaction is meant to strengthen the US stance that commercial activity -- though not sovereign claims -- should be allowed on celestial bodies. Landing on the Moon is highly challenging as spacecraft must rely on precisely controlled thruster burning to slow their descent over treacherous terrain. Intuitive Machines' second attempt at a Moon landing ended in disappointment in late March. Its spacecraft Athena, designed to touch down on a spot called the Mons Mouton plateau -- closer to the lunar south pole than any previous mission -- tipped over and was unable to recharge its solar-powered batteries.
France 24
a day ago
- France 24
Japanese startup attempts Moon landing
If successful, it will be only the third private mission to the Earth's rocky natural satellite ever completed, and the first by a company based outside the United States. The startup, ispace, says touchdown is expected at 4:17 am Japan time on Friday (1917 GMT Thursday) with the potentially nail-biting attempt streamed on its website. Resilience is "ready to attempt a historic landing on the Moon" and "we are confident in our preparations for success", ispace CEO Takeshi Hakamada said last week. "We have leveraged the operational experience gained in Mission 1 and during this current voyage to the Moon," he said in a statement. Only five nations have soft-landed spacecraft on the Moon -- the Soviet Union, the United States, China, India and Japan. And now companies are vying to offer cheaper and more frequent space exploration opportunities than governments. Last year, the Houston-based Intuitive Machines became the first private enterprise to touch down on the Moon. Although its uncrewed craft landed at the wrong angle, it was still able to complete tests and send photos. Then in March this year, Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost -- launched on the same SpaceX rocket as ispace's Resilience -- aced its lunar landing attempt. Despite their rocket ride-share, Resilience took longer to reach the Moon than Blue Ghost, and ispace is now hoping for its own moment of glory, after its first mission resulted in an unsalvageable "hard landing" in 2023. Landing on the Moon is highly challenging as spacecraft must rely on precisely controlled thruster burning to slow their descent. Intuitive Machines' second attempt at a Moon landing ended in disappointment in late March. Its spacecraft Athena, designed to touch down on a spot called the Mons Mouton plateau -- closer to the lunar south pole than any previous mission -- tipped over and was unable to recharge its solar-powered batteries. Meanwhile another Japanese startup, Space One, has been trying to become the country's first private firm to put a satellite into orbit. Its latest rocket launch attempt in December blasted off but was later seen spiralling downwards in the distance as the company said the launch had to be terminated.
France 24
7 days ago
- France 24
Vienna calling: Strauss's 'The Blue Danube' to waltz into outer space
But the world famous waltz will truly travel among the stars on Saturday, when the European Space Agency's (ESA) antenna will broadcast a live performance of it into space to celebrate the composer's 200th birthday. The Vienna Symphony Orchestra will play a concert in the Austrian capital from 1930 GMT, Josef Aschbacher, ESA's director general, told AFP. The concert will be broadcast live on the internet and also be shown at a public screening in Vienna, in New York at Bryant Park, and near the antenna in Spain. "The digitised sound will be transmitted to the large 35-metre satellite dish at ESA's Cebreros ground station in Spain," Aschbacher said. And from there, the waltz will be "transmitted in the form of electromagnetic waves", the Austrian astronomer explained. 'Typical of space' Like no other waltz by Strauss junior, "The Blue Danube" evokes the elegance of 19th-century imperial Vienna, which lives on in the city's roaring ball season. For Norbert Kettner, director of the Vienna tourist board, the Danube waltz is a "true unofficial space anthem" because of Kubrick. The timeless waltz is the "typical sound of space", Kettner said, with the tunes being played "during various docking manoeuvres of the International Space Station (ISS)". When the waltz is performed on Saturday, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra will make sure to underline the waltz's airiness as if it were floating through space, its director Jan Nast said. According to Nast, who put together the programme for Saturday's hour-long "interstellar concert", music is a language "which touches many people" and has "the universal power to convey hope and joy". Filling a gap Once transmitted via Spain's satellite dish, the signal will travel at the speed of light to eventually reach NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft -- the most distant man-made object in the universe -- in approximately 23 hours and 3 minutes. After surpassing Voyager 1, it will continue its interstellar journey. By catching up with the spacecraft and its twin, Voyager 2, Austria also seeks to right a perceived wrong. Both Voyagers carry "Golden Records" -- 12-inch, gold-plated copper disks intended to convey the story of our world to extraterrestrials. The record holds 115 images of life on Earth, recorded in analogue form, and a variety of sounds and snatches of music. While "The Magic Flute" by Austria's composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was included among the selection of 27 music pieces, Strauss's famous waltz was not.
