Latest news with #Genberg
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Japanese spacecraft goes dark during attempted moon landing. Its payload would have been a world-first.
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The status of a private Japanese moon lander — which was carrying Europe's first lunar rover — is in question after ground control suddenly lost contact with the spacecraft on Thursday (June 5). Mission control lost contact with the lander, known as "Resilience," at 3:17 p.m ET, just as it was attempting a lunar touchdown. The rover, known as "Tenacious," is one of several payloads carried aboard Resilience, the second Hakuto-R lander made and operated by Japanese company ispace. The spacecraft attempted to touch down in an unexplored region of the moon's northern hemisphere known as Mare Frigoris, or the "Sea of Cold," after spending just over a month in lunar orbit. After several hours, ground control has yet to reestablish contact with the lander, and the status of its payload is unknown. "We have not yet been able to establish communication with RESILIENCE, but ispace engineers in our Mission Control Center are continuing to work to contact the lander," ispace representatives wrote in a statement posted to X. "We will share an update with the latest information in a media announcement in the next few hours." Resilience is the third Japanese lander to attempt to touch down on the moon, following ispace's first Hakuto-R lander, which crash-landed in April 2023 after losing contact with its operators in orbit, and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's SLIM lander (or "moon sniper"), which landed upside down in January 2024 but unexpectedly survived two lunar nights. Resilience launched Jan. 15 on board a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Live Science's sister site reported at the time. The same rocket also launched Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost lander, which successfully landed on the moon on March 2, after taking a more direct route. Related: 'Everything has changed since Apollo': Why landing on the moon is still incredibly difficult If successful, Resilience would be just the second private lunar lander to complete a soft landing on the moon. Its main payload, the Tenacious rover, would be the first European-built vehicle to roam the moon. Tenacious is small, measuring roughly 21 inches (54 centimeters) long and weighing just 11 pounds (5 kilograms). But its most-talked-about payload — a tiny, red house dubbed "The Moonhouse" — is even teenier, standing just 4 inches (10 cm) tall. The art piece, dubbed the "first house on the moon," was created by Swedish artist Mikael Genberg, who first envisioned the project in 1999. "To me, the Moonhouse is both a shared achievement, something made possible by the efforts of many individuals, but also a profoundly personal thing," Genberg recently told "It's a small house in a vast, empty place, a symbol of belonging, curiosity, and vulnerability." Tenacious planned to roam the Sea of Cold for up to two weeks. It would then likely die during the "lunar night," when its solar panels can no longer collect light, according to ESA. RELATED STORIES —Will Earth ever lose its moon? —Why can't we see the far side of the moon? —How many moons are in the solar system? During this time, the rover would conduct various additional experiments, including using a tiny scoop to collect a small amount of lunar regolith, which could be returned to Earth on a future mission. NASA has already agreed to buy the sample for $5,000, according to Sky News. The Resilience lander is also carrying several other payloads, including the Water Electrolyzer Experiment, which aimed to demonstrate the feasibility of producing oxygen and hydrogen from "lunar water resources"; an algae-based food production module, which would attempt to grow the photosynthetic organism as a potential future food source for lunar astronauts; and the Deep Space Radiation Probe, which would track the amount of radiation the lander will experience on the moon, according to
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Building the 'Moonhouse': Q&A with artist Mikael Genberg
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. A dream that Mikael Genberg has nurtured for more than a quarter century could come true today (June 5). The Swedish artist's "Moonhouse," a project he devised way back in 1999, is set to touch down on the moon this afternoon aboard Resilience, a lander operated by the Japanese company ispace. The artwork — a tiny replica of the red-and-white houses that dot the Swedish countryside — is mounted on the front bumper of Tenacious, a microrover built by ispace's European subsidiary. If Resilience touches down safely today and everything thereafter goes to plan as well, Tenacious will deploy from the lander and drop the Moonhouse onto the lunar dirt, giving the gray landscape a solitary spark of vibrant color. caught up with Genberg via email recently to discuss the Moonhouse, how he's feeling with the touchdown try just around the corner and what a successful landing would mean to him. The questions and answers are presented below in their entirety. How and when did you first get the idea to put a little Swedish house on the moon? Mikael Genberg: Working as an artist is, in many ways, about trying to describe the world, life, and human beings from different perspectives. All culture is essentially that: describing and re-describing what it means to be here. The house, as a symbol, holds in my mind a unique combination of survival and beauty. When I first imagined a typical Swedish house standing on the moon, I instantly felt the power of the image, but also its impossibility. I had no competence, no funding, no connections. Still, the thought didn't leave me. I started talking about it, first with close friends, then with others. Gradually, a sense of shared purpose, or something like that, began to form around the idea. Somehow, the concept managed to survive, and even grow, for 26 years, carried forward by its own poetry, craziness and hardship and by the incredible support of people who believed in it. That persistence of the idea itself is kind of an artwork. What does this piece mean to you? What do you hope it achieves, or how do you hope it affects people? Genberg: To me, the Moonhouse is both a shared achievement, something made possible by the efforts of many individuals, but also a profoundly personal thing. Being able to touch the moon with a small house that I painted in the kitchen of our red house from 1758 creates deeper emotions than I expected. It's like putting my finger on that distant white disc in the sky. An impossibility that comes to life. It's a small house in a vast, empty place, a symbol of belonging, curiosity, and vulnerability. I hope it invites people to reflect on our relationship to space, and to recognize the fragility and uniqueness of our own world, this Pale Blue Dot, packed with life, all related to each other. The Moonhouse doesn't claim anything except maybe to be art, but even that is of no real interest. It's a small red house standing on the moon. That's all. How do you feel now, being so close to the lunar landing? What emotions are running through you? Genberg: It's a strange mix of awe, anxiety, disbelief, and sheer, childish happiness. So many things have had to go right just to reach this point. There's excitement, of course, but also a deep sense of humility in understanding the challenges that still lie ahead. I'm trying not to get swept away by the emotions entirely, but instead to stay present in this moment. Whatever comes next. What would mission success — Tenacious deploying the Moonhouse onto the gray dirt — mean to you? What would it mean to humanity? Genberg: If it works, if the Moonhouse actually stands there on the lunar surface, I think it would be a moment of something extraordinary. Maybe more poetry than art. For me personally, it would be the culmination of imagination, persistence, and collaboration with so many wonderful people. As for what it might mean to humanity, that's really up to each person. I love that people have already responded in their own creative ways: sending us songs, children's drawings, poems. That, to me, is success, when an idea sparks new ideas in others. I hope the Moonhouse can become a small cultural marker. Something that says: we were here, and we brought not just our technology, but our dreams, our symbols of home. We come in peace. Related stories: — Japanese company ispace will attempt historic moon landing on June 5 — Little house on the (moon) prairie: Artist's 'Moonhouse' set to lift off on lunar lander — Japan's ispace unveils microrover for its 2nd moon mission What if Resilience fails during its landing attempt on June 5? Will you still regard the Moonhouse project as a success? Genberg: That's hard to say. In the moment, I'm sure I would feel deep disappointment. But with some distance, I believe I'll be able to see how the Moonhouse has already succeeded in many ways. It exists. It was built. It sparked thoughts, conversations and creativity across the world. Of course, I hope it lands safely. But I also accept that space missions are, by nature, super-risky. No matter what happens, the House will reach the moon. The only question is in what shape.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Private lunar lander closing in on unexplored top of the moon
Four-and-a-half months after launch atop a Falcon 9 rocket, a privately-built Japanese moon lander is finally in position for a descent to touchdown Thursday. It comes two years after the company's first lander ran out of gas and crashed to the lunar surface. The Resilience lander, carrying cameras, a few scientific instruments and a tiny rover, was expected to drop out of a 62-mile-high orbit and touch down at 3:17 p.m. EDT near the center of Mare Frigoris — the Sea of Cold — in the moon's northern hemisphere at 60 degrees north latitude. "For Mission 2, our second attempt at landing on the moon, we will not only land the Resilience lander, but we will also use a mechanism to deploy the Tenacious rover, which we developed in house, to explore the lunar surface," Ryo Ujiie, chief technology officer of ispace, the lander's builder, said on the company's web page. "Tenacious will explore the lunar surface, deploy a customer payload and collect regolith. Resilience will continue to operate the customer payloads on board and transmit valuable telemetry data to our mission control center." The customer payload is a tiny model of a Swedish house, designed by artist Mikael Genberg. The traditionally styled red-and-white house measures just 4.7 inches long and 4 inches high and weighs just 3.5 ounces. Asked why he took on the project, which required years of planning, fund-raising and engineering, Genberg said "we have done as human beings things from time to time that (do not) seemingly have a purpose beyond just being creative." "The Eiffel Tower, for instance, I mean it's a stupid thing to build," he said. "Today, it has a purpose as maybe the most important thing to make Paris the most visited city in the world." While the "moonhouse" will survive for thousands if not millions of years in the airless environment of the moon, its custom paint will fade in the sun's harsh radiation and lunar dust will slowly coat its surface. Genberg joked that he would happily await an invitation to repaint it. The house will be dropped from the rover a few days after landing, and the team hopes to capture photos with Earth in the background. The cost of the project was not disclosed, but a spokesman said it was similar to what one might pay for a relatively large house on Earth. ispace is one of a handful of companies attempting to provide non-government transportation services to the moon for a variety of payloads ranging from science instruments to technology demonstrations. But as it turns out, getting low-cost spacecraft to the moon's surface is extremely difficult. ispace tried and failed in 2023 when its first lander ran out of propellant nearing the surface, dropping to a "hard" crash landing. Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic Technology launched its Peregrine lander in January 2024, but the spacecraft suffered a propulsion system leak and never made it to the moon. Houston-based Intuitive Machines successfully put two landers down on the lunar surface in 2024 and again earlier this year, but both spacecraft tipped over on touchdown. While each one survived its landing, neither was able to accomplish all of its pre-flight objectives. Before Thursday, only one company, Austin-based Firefly Aerospace, had successfully touched down and carried out its mission, landing the Blue Ghost spacecraft on March 2, 53 years after the final Apollo mission. Resilience and Blue Ghost were launched atop a single SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Jan. 15. The Blue Ghost lander took a direct route to the moon and carried out a successful touchdown, operating for a full two-week lunar "day." Resilience followed a longer, low-energy trajectory that carried it well past its target, using the moon's gravity to bring it back to an initially elliptical orbit and finally, using its thrusters, to the 100-kilometer (62-mile) circular orbit that set the stage for descent. Sneak peek: Where is Jermain Charlo? Hegseth orders Navy to rename USNS Harvey Milk, Jeffries calls it "a complete and total disgrace" FEMA, Trump administration react to sources saying chief did not know U.S. had a hurricane season
Korea Herald
22-05-2025
- Science
- Korea Herald
The Moonhouse: The First Ever House on the Moon – A Swedish Red Cottage Set to Land June 5
STOCKHOLM, May 22, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- History is about to be made. On June 5 at 09:24 PM CET, a tiny red house — a traditional Swedish cottage — is set to become the first house ever to land on the Moon. After traveling through space for more than four months aboard the Japanese lunar lander RESILIENCE, the artwork known as The Moonhouse now enters its most critical phase: a soft landing in Mare Frigoris — the Sea of Cold. This unique fusion of art and technology began with a bold idea. In 1999, Swedish artist Mikael Genberg imagined placing a simple red house on the Moon. "Not as a scientific outpost or political symbol," says Genberg, "but as a quiet reminder of humanity, imagination, and home. A beacon of hope — and an eye turned toward Earth, the pale blue dot." Since then, the idea has passed through the hands of engineers, dreamers, and supporters who, together with Genberg, have carried it forward across decades, continents, and now deep space. Landing on the Moon remains one of the most difficult feats in spaceflight. ispace's first attempt in 2023 did not touchdown successfully, and this second mission demands flawless precision. But even with a successful landing, the mission's most delicate moment is still to come. Mounted on the front of the lunar rover TENACIOUS is the house itself. Once the lander touches down, the rover will be deployed to scout the Moon's surface for the perfect site. "The hardest part starts now. The Moonhouse must find its place on the Moon — and then make its final leap, just 8 centimeters, powered only by gravity. We'll be holding our breath until we see the images," says The Moonhouse technical lead Emil Vinterhav. "It's a delicate maneuver, done by remote control from 400,000 km away," says Antoine Bocquier, Rover Pilot and Senior Space System Engineer at ispace. "I will operate the rover to identify a location that is both stable and symbolically meaningful." Only then — when the house stands alone on the Moon — will The Moonhouse be fully realized. "This is more than a work of art. It is a 26-year journey of persistence, collaboration, and belief — a red cottage that dares to dream on the Moon, forever." — Hans Elis Johansson, Communications Director Contact: Hans Elis Johansson +46 70 5136035 Mikael Genberg info@ +46707755393 Emil Vinterhav +46705551869
Wales Online
22-05-2025
- Science
- Wales Online
A little red house is set to land on the Moon within days - they call it The Moonhouse
A little red house is set to land on the Moon within days - they call it The Moonhouse The project has been in the pipeline since 1999 and the house will be carried on a lunar rover before making its own 8cm touchdown on the surface The Moonhouse (Image: The Moonhouse ) A traditional Swedish cottage is set to become the first 'house' to ever land on the moon next month. On June 5, at 9.24pm CET, the artwork known as The Moonhouse, a tiny red house which has been travelling through space for more than four months aboard the lunar lander RESILIENCE, will enter its most critical phase, a soft landing in the Mare Frigoris region — the sea of cold. In 1999, Swedish artist Mikael Genberg envisioned placing a classic red house with white corners on the moon. Since then, a diverse group of "engineers, dreamers, and passionate believers" have kept the vision alive — across time and space, across the Earth, and now into deep space. Love dreamy Welsh homes? Sign up to our newsletter here . "It's not about science or politics," says Genberg. "It's about reminding us of what we all share — our humanity, our imagination, and our longing for home. "A red house gazing back at the Pale Blue Dot, as Carl Sagan once described our fragile planet." Article continues below Despite decades of technological advancement, landing on the Moon remains one of the most complex challenges in spaceflight. Japanese ispace is now undertaking its second mission after an unsuccessful attempt in 2023. The project demands extreme precision — and even with a successful landing, the most delicate moment will still lie ahead. Mounted on the front of the lunar rover, TENACIOUS, is the artwork itself. Once the lander touches down, the rover will be deployed to scout the moon's surface for the perfect site. The Moonhouse then must find its place — and perform its own little moon landing: a drop of just eight centimetres, powered only by gravity. "We'll be holding our breath until the images reach us," said Emil Vinterhav, technical lead for The Moonhouse. Antoine Bocquier, rover pilot and senior space system engineer at ispace, said: "It's a highly delicate manoeuvre, remotely operated from 400,000 kilometres away. I will guide the rover to a location that is both stable and symbolically meaningful." Communications director, Hans Elis Johansson, who has been part of the project from the beginning, added: "This is more than a work of art. It is a 26-year journey of persistence, collaboration, and belief — a red little house that dares to dream. On the moon. Forever." Article continues below
