“Two Private Lunar Landers Embark on an Intriguing Detour to the Moon”

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — In a dual moon mission, SpaceX dispatched two lunar landers on Wednesday for American and Japanese firms eager to ignite commercial activities on Earth’s rugged satellite.

The two landers launched in the wee hours from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, the latest in a continuous stream of private spacecraft striving for the moon. Sharing the mission allows them to reduce expenses, taking distinct indirect paths for the several-month-long voyage.

It’s take two for the Tokyo-based ispace, whose initial lander met with failure upon impact with the moon two years prior. This time, it carries a rover equipped with a scoop to collect lunar soil for analysis and intends to explore potential food and water sources for future adventurers.

Lunar novice Firefly Aerospace, based in Texas, is conducting 10 experiments for NASA, which includes a vacuum for soil collection, a drill to measure subsurface temperatures, and a device that might be utilized by future moon explorers to keep the sharp, abrasive particles off their space suits and gear.

Firefly’s Blue Ghost — named after a species of fireflies from the Southeastern U.S. — is expected to be the first to touch down on the moon. The lander, standing at 6 feet 6 inches tall (2 meters), will aim for a landing in early March at Mare Crisium, a volcanic plain located in the northern latitudes.

The slightly larger ispace lander known as Resilience will take four to five months to reach its destination, aiming for a landing in late May or early June at Mare Frigoris, situated even further north on the moon’s near side.

“We don’t consider this as a competition. Some might say ‘race to the moon,’ but it’s not solely about how fast we arrive,” remarked ispace’s founder and CEO Takeshi Hakamada from Cape Canaveral earlier this week.

Both Hakamada and Firefly CEO Jason Kim recognize the difficult path that lies ahead, considering the debris scattered across the lunar terrain. Since the 1960s, only five nations have successfully landed crafts on the moon: the former Soviet Union, the U.S., China, India, and Japan.

“We have undertaken all necessary steps regarding design and engineering,” Kim stated. Nonetheless, he affixed an Irish shamrock to his jacket lapel on Tuesday night for good fortune.

The U.S. remains the sole nation to have landed astronauts on the lunar surface. NASA’s Artemis program, which follows Apollo, aims to return astronauts to the moon by the decade’s end.

Prior to this occurring, “we are sending extensive science and technology in advance to set the stage for that,” said NASA’s science mission director Nicky Fox the day before the launch.

If they succeed in their landings, both spacecraft are set to conduct operations in constant daylight for two weeks and will cease activity once darkness falls.

Once deployed onto the lunar ground, ispace’s 11-pound rover will remain in proximity to the lander, traversing up to hundreds of yards (meters) in circular paths at a speed of under one inch (a couple of centimeters) per second. The rover has a unique task to deliver on the lunar surface: a toy-sized red house designed by a Swedish artist.

NASA is investing $101 million in Firefly for the mission and an extra $44 million for the experiments. Hakamada chose not to reveal the expenditure for ispace’s renewed mission featuring six experiments, stating it was less than the initial mission that exceeded $100 million.

Upcoming by the end of February is the second lunar mission for NASA by Intuitive Machines, based in Houston. The previous year, the company achieved the first U.S. lunar landing in over 50 years, landing sideways near the south pole yet still managing to operate.