The Luxembourg subsidiary of the Japanese exploration company i has completed the structure of a lunar microrover that is now expected to fly to the Moon.
The newly assembled rover is expected to be transported to Japan soon to be incorporated into ispace’s HAKUTO-R lander. The lander and rover combo is expected to launch on a SpaceX Falcon nine rocket from Florida’s Space Coast later this year.
This project will be ispace’s time to soft land on the lunar surface. The first Array, in April 2023, ended in failure.
The lunar microrover, called “Tenacious,” will be lowered to the lunar surface from the lunar lander, called “Resilience. ” The rover will lead the exploration with a front-mounted HD camera designed to capture photographs of the lunar surface. Talk to and receive commands from ground stations on Earth through the lander.
The vehicle is compact and measures 26 centimeters (10. 24 in) high, 31. 5 cm (12. 40 in) wide and 54 cm (21. 26 in) long. The rover weighs about 11 pounds (5 kilograms), making it China’s micro rover that followed the recent Chang’e 6 return effort from the far side of the Moon and photographed the Moon lander. assignment.
Related: Japan’s ispace unveils a small lunar lander for its second lunar mission in 2024
Tenacious evolved through ispace-Europe in part thanks to investment from the Luxembourg Space Agency as part of a European Space Agency (ESA) contract.
“I am very happy to witness in Luxembourg the finishing touch of the first European rover designed, manufactured and sent to the Moon,” Tadahiro Matsubara, ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of Japan in Luxembourg, said in a statement.
“This is a vital step for the government of Luxembourg, which is actively promoting the industrialization of the area’s resources,” Matsubara added. “We hope that the continued challenge of the Iarea will increase goodwill between Japan and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. “
— Japan’s ispace secures a $55 million lunar landing deal with NASA and delays the third lunar launch until 2026.
– A moon crash was found! NASA orbiter detects the tomb of a Japanese personal lander (photos)
— Japanese lunar lander reaches lunar orbit
Resilience will also allow advertising and clinical devices to be brought to the lunar surface. The overall project is expected to contribute to the NASA-led Artemis program, according to ispace.
“Tenacious perfectly captures the spirit of this small rover, capable of taking revolutionary steps. It is the first lunar rover built in Europe and will be the first to take European consumers to the surface of the Moon and gather resources from the area according to the plan of Luxembourg of 2017. Space Resources Law. ” said Julien Lamamy, executive director of iarea-Europe.
The Japan-based company is also executing its third project, which will use the APEX 1. 0 lunar lander progression for the first time. The project is expected to launch in 2026.
Join our local forums to keep talking about the latest missions, the night sky, and more!And if you have any advice, corrections, or comments, please let us know at: community@area. com.
Andrew is a freelance space journalist whose goal is to report on China’s developing space sector. He began writing for Space. com in 2019 and has written for SpaceNews, IEEE Spectrum, National Geographic, Sky & Telescope, New Scientist, and others. Andrew first caught the virus from the area when, as a young man, he first saw Voyager photographs of other worlds in our solar system. Away from the area, Andrew enjoys trail running in the forests of Finland. You can follow him on Twitter @AJ_FI.
Researchers will build “light poles” on the Moon, and they would be taller than the Statue of Liberty
The newborn Moon likely would have had many mini-siblings in Earth’s orbit long ago
Nikon Trailblazer 8×25 ATB Compact Binoculars Review
Space is from Future US Inc, a foreign media organization and leading virtual publisher. Visit our corporate site.