The Japanese company ispace is hoping to make some space history on Thursday (June 5), when it attempts to land a private spacecraft on the moon. But if you’re hoping to watch it live, you’ll need to know when and where to tune in.
The Resilience lander, the second-ever private ispace lunar probe, is on track for a midday landing in the northern reaches of the moon. Resilience is flying a mission of redemption for ispace, which failed a similar moon landing attempt with its first effort, called Hakuto-R Mission 1, in April 2023.
Here’s a look at what time ispace’s Resilience moon will attempt to land on June 5, how to watch it and what may happen during the mission.
What time will ispace’s Resilience land on the moon?
Currently, ispace’s Resilience moon lander is scheduled to land on Thursday, June 5, at 3:24 p.m. EDT (1824 GMT), though it will be 4:24 a.m. Japan Standard Time on Friday, June 6, at touchdown time.
That landing time follows a specific timeline of events ispace has laid out to deliver Resilience to the lunar surface. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched Resilience torward the moon on Jan. 15 along with the private Blue Ghost moon lander built by Firefly Aerospace. (Blue Ghost successfully landed in the moon’s Mare Crisium, or Sea of Crises, region on March 2.)
Unlike Blue Ghost, Resilience followed a “low energy transfer” path to reach the moon, which added months to the journey. It arrived in lunar orbit on May 6 and is finally ready for its landing attempt.
While ispace is targeting June 5 at 3:24 p.m. EDT (1824 GMT) for the moon landing, that time could actually change. The prime landing spot is in the middle of Mare Frigoris, or the “Sea of Cold,” on the near side of the moon’s northern hemisphere. If ispace decides to use a backup landing site (there are three in all), those attempts would occur on different days and times.
“Should conditions change, there are three alternative landing sites that are being considered with different landing dates and times for each,” ispace wrote in an update on social media.
Can I watch ispace’s Resilience moon landing?
Yes, you’ll be able to watch ispace’s Resilience lander attempt to touch down on the moon live as it happens, and you’ll be able to pick which language you’d like to follow the mission when you do.
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