The private lunar lander Resilience has just made an exciting close encounter with the moon.
Built by the Japanese company ispace, Resilience successfully flew by the moon on February 14, coming within about 5,220 miles (8,400 kilometers) of its surface. It even captured a stunning photo of the moon’s rugged terrain from around 8,972 miles (14,439 kilometers) away.
This flyby marks a historic moment as the first close-up look for a Japanese private lunar lander. The close pass helped Resilience gain a gravity assist, allowing it to save fuel and adjust its path. This means it will use less energy to reach lunar orbit, which is planned for early May.
Resilience was launched on January 15 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, which also carried another lunar lander called Blue Ghost. Blue Ghost, built by Texas-based Firefly Aerospace, arrived at the moon on February 13 and is already in orbit. It performed a maneuver to lower its orbit just a few days later.
Blue Ghost is gearing up for its landing attempt on March 2 in Mare Crisium, also known as the “Sea of Crises,” a large volcanic area on the moon’s near side. This marks Firefly’s first lunar mission, and they have high hopes for a successful touchdown.
On its journey, Resilience aims for Mare Frigoris, or the “Sea of Cold,” located in the moon’s northern hemisphere. It is expected to land in late May or early June. This lander is carrying five scientific payloads, including a mini rover named Tenacious, developed by ispace’s subsidiary in Luxembourg.
Interestingly, while none of Resilience’s equipment was made by NASA, Blue Ghost carries ten experiments from the agency. This mission is part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, which aims to gather valuable data before astronauts from the Artemis program arrive on the moon in the coming years.
It’s worth noting that Resilience is ispace’s second attempt at a lunar landing. The first lander reached lunar orbit successfully in March 2023 but crashed during its landing attempt after misinterpreting a lunar crater’s edge.
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