Ispace’s Resilience lunar lander completes lunar flyby in preparation for entering lunar orbit
The Resilience lunar lander, built by the Japanese startup Ispace and launched in January on the same Falcon 9 rocket as Firefly’s Blue Ghost lunar lander, has now completed its closest flyby of the Moon as it prepares to enter lunar orbit sometimes in early May.
The spacecraft is actually still in Earth orbit, but with a apogee that is almost 700,000 miles out, or almost three times the distance of the Moon’s orbit. Once Ispace’s engineers have gotten a precise track of this orbit they will then determine the exact parameters of the engine burn in May that will place Resilience in lunar orbit.
This is Ispace’s second attempt to place a lander on the Moon. The first, Hakuto-R1, came close, but crashed in Atlas Crater (see the map in my previous post) when, at an altitude of several kilometers, its software thought it was only a few feet above the surface and shut the engines off.
Most of the instruments on Resilience are either symbolic or engineering experiments to observe the lander’s operations. It is however carrying a small rover, dubbed Tenacious, which will attempt to travel on the surface.
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The Resilience lunar lander, built by the Japanese startup Ispace and launched in January on the same Falcon 9 rocket as Firefly’s Blue Ghost lunar lander, has now completed its closest flyby of the Moon as it prepares to enter lunar orbit sometimes in early May.
The spacecraft is actually still in Earth orbit, but with a apogee that is almost 700,000 miles out, or almost three times the distance of the Moon’s orbit. Once Ispace’s engineers have gotten a precise track of this orbit they will then determine the exact parameters of the engine burn in May that will place Resilience in lunar orbit.
This is Ispace’s second attempt to place a lander on the Moon. The first, Hakuto-R1, came close, but crashed in Atlas Crater (see the map in my previous post) when, at an altitude of several kilometers, its software thought it was only a few feet above the surface and shut the engines off.
Most of the instruments on Resilience are either symbolic or engineering experiments to observe the lander’s operations. It is however carrying a small rover, dubbed Tenacious, which will attempt to travel on the surface.
Readers!
Every February I run a fund-raising drive during my birthday month. This year I celebrate my 72nd birthday, and hope and plan to continue writing and posting on Behind the Black for as long as I am able.
I hope my readers will support this effort. As I did in my November fund-raising drive, I am offering autographed copies of my books for large donations. Donate $250 and you can have a choice of the hardback of either Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8 or Conscious Choice: The origins of slavery in America and why it matters today and for our future in outer space. Donate $200 and you can get an autographed paperback copy of either. IMPORTANT! If you donate enough to get a book, please email me separately to tell me which book you want and the address to mail it to.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Why don’t they have a rover that can explore a bit. Seems silly to go to all this effort to put more staticky placed equipment in just one spot.
Get a rover or something mobile that can find water.
I agree.
Although probes at fixed locations can be done on the cheap with limited resources, they do have their place and applications to collect information and as a learning experience for people new to making probes to learn from their mistakes. Every little bit helps. (unless you’re China and don’t share the information gathered)
You can’t watch a “robot war” competition, or go to a toy store without seeing the remote control cars/all terrain speed buggies, realizing how easy this technology will adapt to a lunar surface for a moon buggy that cannot be tipped over, or high centered and stuck without being able to correct itself… at high speeds!
(I’m willing to bet Elon musk already has a Tesla buggy prototype worked out)
With an RTG power source, it’s range and abilities would be nothing short of “awesome!” Almost ”Real time” Visual experience the people would pay to watch. Especially if it involves spinning around a crater vertically! Or a contest to see the distance the buggy can jump in low gravity…
Samples will not be necessary to collect, modern assaying can occur instantly with an electron gun x-ray device that can determine chemical and mineral make up on the spot.
Such a buggy could last years with the proper tires could probably cover 1000 miles in its lifetime.
A starship lunar lander will have to be demonstrated as a proof of concept, so why not include a payload like this along with a reasonable robotic equipment that can show how to prepare the lunar surface for a maned landing with the habitat module.
It’s nice to be able to dream about such things again.
JT asked: “Why don’t they have a rover that can explore a bit”
There are a few reasons to not go all out on an exploration lander and rover.
One reason could be that it is a startup company that is still working on the development of its lander and is more worried about the engineering than the science, at this point. Robert’s last paragraph strongly suggests that this is the reason that there is less science and more engineering behind this mission:
“Most of the instruments on Resilience are either symbolic or engineering experiments to observe the lander’s operations. It is however carrying a small rover, dubbed Tenacious, which will attempt to travel on the surface.”
Another reason may be that, as a startup company, Ispace may have promises from funding sources that they can receive much more funding for science missions once they demonstrate successful landings and missions. Their limited rover may be just such a demonstrator.
Most startups spend their initial funding proving that they can develop into a viable company. This means that they start small and ramp up or expand as their revenues grow. Even the manned Moon landings began with the Mercury proof of concept missions, and with the concept of man in space proved, they moved on to the more complicated Project Gemini. Once Gemini proved more concepts and capabilities, NASA moved on to the ambitious Project Apollo. Companies have to move in similar steps and stages, too.
I looked into the details of this lander a bit more after posting, and found that they DO have a little rover on board. Nice!
I should have looked more before posting. Here is a link to the micro rover:
https://www.space.com/ispace-mini-moon-rover-tenacious
JT,
The article that Robert linked also mentions the rover, and that it is intended to scoop regolith (dirt) from the lunar surface and report back to the lander.
The article also mentions other payloads, including a commemorative alloy plate. The alloy is not specified. There is, however, a “Food production experiment,” which could suggest an intention for longer than two weeks of experimental time, unless they do not have a way to keep the experiment warm during the lunar night.
Sadly, neither Robert’s article nor yours mentions whether they designed the rover or the lander to survive the first lunar night.
Edward and JT: This small rover is not designed to survive the lunar night. Neither is the lander. That does not mean they won’t, as we have seen other landers survive that night unexpectedly.