Japanese company plans to land: Lander spent months in space
Japanese company plans to land: Lander spent months in space
Almost five months ago, a SpaceX-Rakete from Florida on board. The Blue Ghost-Space probe of the Texas company Firefly Aerospace headed for the moon and was in March for first commercial Robot vehicle , which landed on the moon surface.
The upcoming Mondlandemanöver from Resilience
The other spacecraft, developed by the Japanese company ISPACE, finally reaches its goal. The unmanned lunar ferry called Resilience is scheduled to start with your Landemanöver on Thursday at 3:24 pm-three months after your "Rideshaare partner" wrote history.
Isspace remains calm
Those responsible at ISPACE are not very concerned about losing a “first” superlative. They explained that a slower and steady path to the moon can offer the company some long -term advantages. "The good thing about this four- to five-month course is that small things happen every day ... something that we did not expect," the CFO from Isspace, Jumpei Nozaki, told CNN in January. "This trip to the moon is really a learning phase."
The ISPACE team continuously trains
Three teams of Ispace employees rotate in the control room of the mission in Tokyo and gain months of experience in monitoring the unpredictable and daring physics of space flight-a rare opportunity, as the company founder and CEO Takeshi Hakamada emphasized.
The challenges of the moon landing
A step -by -step approach to the moon does not guarantee a successful landing attempt. ISPACE's first attempt to place a space probe on the moon surface ended in April 2023 with a The probe was on the road for 4.5 months. Ultimately, the long course of resilience brings with it both advantages and disadvantages.
The slow way to the moon
resilience follows a path that is often referred to as "low -energy transfer". This slow, gentle course is comparable to a bike tour to a friend where you use the descents to turn out little strength or energy. In this way, the resilience travels over hundreds of thousand miles, hovers into deep space and waits for the gravity of the moon capture the spacecraft into an orbit around the moon.
comparison to competitors
In contrast, other vehicles such as Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost and the Nova-C-Lander of the Texas company Intuitive machines use large engines to move on a much more direct course. The latest Nova-C country from intuitive machines reached the moon, for example, about a week after the start.
important tests during the trip
Compared to the ISPaces competitors' lunar ferries, the resilience is light and comparatively inexpensive with a smaller rocket engine. All the time that resilience spends in orbit, it enables mission operators to "check many different systems during this long journey," as Nozaki explained. This includes the sensors of the vehicle, navigation and other software systems.
The future of iSpace
Nevertheless, there are also disadvantages. Nozaki emphasized that ISPACE, regardless of the outcome of Resilience 'trip, will give up the approach of the lower energy transfer with its third mission. The upcoming moonlander from ISPACE, called APEX 1.0, is developed in partnership with the Draper, based in Massachusetts, and aims to pursue a more direct course on the moon.
important missions for customers
to get to the moon quickly, is also "very important for our customers," said Nozaki. These customers include research groups, companies and governments that pay ISPACE for transporting scientific instruments to the moon. Months in transit time, additional wear and tear on instruments can cause, since these are exposed to the intensive radiation environment and the extreme temperature fluctuations in space.
The mission of the Resilience Lander
Nevertheless, the company is optimistic that a group of three scientific instruments that are currently on board resilience will carry out exciting tests after the vehicle has reached the moon. Resilience transports a module that is supposed to test algae-based food production, a radiation monitor for deep space and an experiment for electrolysis of water that aims to produce hydrogen and oxygen in the lunar environment.
The new landing site
The first moonlander from Isspace approached the Atlas crater in April 2023, a characteristic on the northeastern side of the earth's surface, when it crashed. This time, the company aims to land on the moon at another location: a 750 miles long (1,200 kilometers) level called Mare Frigoris - or "Sea of Cold" - which is located in the far northern regions of the moon.
live broadcast of landing
mare Frigoris is significantly flatter than the region of the atlas crater, which could potentially offer terrain to navigating. ISPACE announced in a statement that the new landing site was chosen because it offers "flexibility". The company plans to have the landing test on Thursday on youtube and x live to stream.
an important historical performance
When Resilience ends up successfully, ISPACE will be the first commercial company outside the United States that achieves such a service. ISPACE would also join Firefly, whose Blue Ghost-Lander successfully ended up in March and thus becomes the only two companies who have completed a fully extensive successful landing of a robotic moonland.
landings of competitors
Intuitive machines landed on the moon, both near the southern moon pole. Each of these vehicles landed on the page , which restricted the scientific and research activities of the company.
The role of Nasa’s Clps
Both Firefly Aerospace and intuitive machines are contractors for NASAS Commercial Lunar Payoad Services (CLPS) Initiative, which is part of the Artemis program of the space authority. This program aims to bring people back to the moon after more than 50 years. Robot missions that are carried out as part of CLPs should be a scientific pioneer and pave the way for the return of the astronauts.
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