Enlarge / A photo of the Moon taken by the ispace lander's on-board camera from an altitude of about 100 km above the lunar surface. (credit: ispace)
It's nearly time for a privately developed Japanese lunar lander to make a historic attempt to touch down on the Moon.
After spending five months in transit to reach the Moon—following a looping but fuel-efficient trajectory—the Hakuto-R mission will attempt to land on the Moon as early as Tuesday. If its mission operators decide to proceed, the landing attempt will begin as soon as 11:40 am ET on Tuesday (15:40 UTC). It will be livestreamed.
The landing attempt will start from an altitude of about 100 km above the lunar surface, where the spacecraft is presently in a circular orbit. It will begin with a braking maneuver by a firing of the spacecraft's main engine, to be followed by a pre-programmed set of commands during which the lander will adjust its attitude with respect to the Moon's surface and decelerate to make a soft landing. The process should take about an hour.
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