A private lunar lander from Japan is closing in on the moon, aiming for a touchdown in the unexplored far north with a mini rover.
The moon landing attempt by Tokyo-based company ispace on Friday Japan time is the latest entry in the rapidly expanding commercial lunar rush.
The encore comes two years after the company’s first moonshot ended in a crash landing, giving rise to the name Resilience for its successor lander.
Resilience holds a rover with a shovel to gather lunar dirt as well as a Swedish artist’s toy-size red house that will be lowered onto the moon’s dusty surface.
Long the province of governments, the moon became a target of private outfits in 2019, with more flops than wins along the way.
Launched in January from Florida on a long, roundabout journey, Resilience entered lunar orbit last month.
