Latest news with #ResilienceLander
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
ispace's Resilience spacecraft lands on the moon this week: Here's how to see the landing zone on the lunar surface
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. ISpace's private Resilience Lander will attempt to touch down on the Mare Frigoris region of the moon's surface on June 5, at 3:17 p.m. EDT (1817 GMT). While you won't be able to see the lander itself from Earth, you can spot its landing zone on the lunar surface — here's how. Mare Frigoris —Latin for the "Sea of Cold" — formed billions of years ago when lava flooded a colossal network of impact basins left behind by brutal asteroid strikes. These vast reservoirs of lava swiftly cooled to form dark scars on the lunar surface that we see today. The Sea of Cold occupies an 18,000 square kilometer (6,950 square mile) swathe of the surface close to the moon's north polar region, though its average depth of just 124 miles (200 km) can make it tricky to pick out with the naked eye. The Japanese-built Resilience lander is aiming to touch down 60.5 degrees north the the lunar equator, with a longitude of 4.6 degrees west, placing it close to Mare Frigoris center, according to the spacecraft's creator ispace. Resilience is far too small to be seen from Earth, but its approximate landing site on the lunar surface is easily identifiable, if you know where to look. In the nights surrounding June 5, look toward the southeastern sky — the moon will become more visible after sunset. A pair of 10x50 binoculars will help you find the slender form of Mare Frigoris darkening the northern region of the moon's surface, but a telescope with an aperture of 6 inches or more will help resolve smaller details and allow you to zero in on Resilience's landing site. A good way to find the Resilience Lander's forever home is to locate the Aristotles Crater, which sits above Mare Serenitatis on the southeastern shore of Mare Frigoris. From there, look to the northwest to find the Archytas Crater scarring the southern shore of Mare Frigoris and beyond that the similarly-sized Timaeus crater. The Resilience Lander will set down in the area below Timaeus, to the left of Archytas, fairly close to the line dividing the dayside and nightside of the lunar surface, known as the terminator. The Resilience Lander is due to touch down on Thursday, June 5, at 3:17 p.m. EDT (1817 GMT), though the exact timing is subject to change based on operational conditions. A live stream of the event will be available here on courtesy of ispace. from 2:10 p.m. EDT on June 5 (1810 GMT/3:10 a.m. JST on June 6), with both English and Japanese language versions available. This will be the ispace's second try at landing a spacecraft on the moon, following the unsuccessful landing attempt of the Japanese company's Hakuto-R spacecraft in April 2023. The company has also selected three backup landing sites further to the west in Mare Frigoris, should conditions make the primary touch down site untenable.
Gizmodo
2 days ago
- Science
- Gizmodo
Watch Live as Japanese Startup Attempts Moon Landing After Failed First Mission
The Resilience lander has spent the past six months traveling to the Moon, with plans to touch down in its far northern region. Japanese company ispace is aiming for a Thursday landing—its second attempt to reach the lunar surface. Resilience is set to land on June 5 at 3:24 p.m. ET, aiming for a smooth touchdown near the center of the Mare Frigoris region (which roughly translates to the sea of cold). The landing attempt will be streamed live on ispace's YouTube channel, beginning around one hour before the scheduled touchdown. You can also tune in through the feed below. Tokyo-based ispace launched its second mission to the Moon on January 15. Resilience hitched a ride along with another lander headed to the Moon. Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost landed on the Moon on March 2, while Resilience took a much longer route. Resilience first operated in an elliptical transfer orbit before using a lunar flyby to move into a low-energy transfer trajectory that will then enable it to attempt a soft landing. The lander has successfully checked off all of its orbital maneuvers and will remain in a low lunar orbit until the big day, according to ispace. For its landing attempt, Resilience will automatically fire its main propulsion system to gradually decelerate and adjust its altitude to begin descent from its current orbit toward the lunar surface. The Resilience lander is carrying a small rover, named Tenacious, to Mare Frigoris, located in the Moon's far northern regions. It's also packed with science instruments, mainly from commercial space ventures in Japan, designed to explore the lunar surface. This is ispace's second attempt to land on the Moon, although the first was unsuccessful. In April 2023, the Hakuto-R Mission 1 (M1) Lunar Lander plummeted towards the Moon and crashed on its surface. The company later revealed that, during the lander's descent toward the lunar surface, Hakuto-R estimated that it was very close to zero altitude when it was roughly 3 miles (5 kilometers) above the surface. As a result, the lander slowed itself down during its descent, eventually running out of fuel and free-falling onto the Moon. Hakuto-R M1 was carrying both commercial and government-owned payloads, including a tiny, two-wheeled transformable robot from the Japanese space agency. Members of the Japanese startup are optimistic about their second go at a Moon landing. 'We have leveraged the operational experience gained in Mission 1 and during this current voyage to the Moon, and we are confident in our preparations for success of the lunar landing,' Takeshi Hakamada, founder and CEO of ispace, said in a statement. The Moon has claimed a number of landers in the past few years as more commercial companies attempt to touch down on its rough surface. Texas-based startup Intuitive Machines crashed not one, but two landers, with both Nova-C and Athena ending up lying on their sides.
India Today
2 days ago
- Business
- India Today
Watch: Resilience lander flies 100 km above the Moon ahead of landing
Japanese company ispace's Resilience Lander is in the final phase of preparing to land on the surface of the spacecraft will attempt to land on Moon's Mare Frigoris region also known as the 'Sea of Cold.' This will mark the culmination of over two months of the spacecraft's journey into aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral on January 15, 2025, Resilience has travelled over one million kilometers, utilising a low-energy transfer orbit that included a lunar flyby and a series of complex deep-space ispace shared a video of the spacecraft flying just 100 kilometres above the Moon as the Mission Control preps for inviting the landing sequence of the spacecraft on June 6. The company said that RESILIENCE remains in a circular orbit as landing day video was captured from lunar orbit by the camera mounted on top of the lander, streaming a peek at the landing legs and the cover that protects the Tenacious micro rover as they soar over the Moon's spacecraft was travelling at a staggering speed of 5,800 kilometres per hour above the stands 2.3 meters tall and weighs 340 kilograms, carrying a suite of scientific include a water electrolyzer experiment, an algae-based food production module, a deep space radiation monitor, and the Tenacious micro rover designed for in situ resource utilization demonstrations. The mission aims to advance sustainable lunar exploration and open new avenues for commercial activity on the aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on January 15, 2025, Resilience was successfully deployed and began its months-long voyage using a low-energy transfer orbit—a fuel-efficient trajectory that included a lunar flyby and a series of complex deep-space Reel
India Today
4 days ago
- Science
- India Today
Japan to land on the Moon:What is Resilience Lander?
Japan to land on the Moon:What is Resilience Lander? 02 Jun, 2025 Credit: ispace The Resilience lander is a Japanese lunar spacecraft developed by ispace for its Hakuto-R Mission 2, aiming to demonstrate reliable lunar transportation and data services. It is scheduled to attempt landing on the Moon's Mare Frigoris region on June 5, 2025 (UTC), following a successful lunar orbit insertion in May 2025. The lander stands 2.3 meters tall, weighs 340 kg dry, and features an octagonal prism body with four landing legs and a main thruster supported by six assist thrusters. Resilience carries several science payloads, including a water electrolyzer experiment, an algae-based food production module, a deep space radiation monitor, and a micro rover for resource exploration. The mission builds on lessons from ispace's previous lunar attempt in 2023, with upgraded systems for improved reliability and precision in navigation and landing. If successful, Resilience will mark a significant achievement for Japan's private space sector and advance commercial lunar exploration capabilities
