Two lunar landers built by private American and Japanese companies are on their way to the moon after they lifted off aboard a SpaceX rocket early Wednesday morning.
The launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida was the latest stage in a public-private programme that sent a spacecraft from Intuitive Machines to the moon last year.
On Wednesday, a landing vehicle from Japanese company ispace was launched, carrying a rover capable of collecting lunar dirt and testing potential sources of food and water on the moon.
Blue Ghost is due to land after 45 days of flight near a volcanic structure called Mons Latreille in the centre of the Sea of Crises on the visible side of our natural satellite. It carries on board 10 scientific instruments to measure heat flow from the Moon’s interior, collect regolith samples, a new-generation laser retroflector to refine the distance between the Earth and its satellite.
The spacecraft also carries a small red “Moon House” built by Swedish artist Mikael Henberg.
This is ispace’s second mission to the moon. In March 2023, its Hakuto-R lander reached lunar orbit, but crashed a month later during a landing attempt. The company says it has corrected technical flaws and improved the navigation system of the new craft. All this should allow it to land safely in the area of the Sea of Cold 4-5 months after launch.
