Second ispace mission ready for lunar landing attempt

The Tokyo-based company slightly revised the landing time for its Resilience lunar lander in a statement late June 3. The landing, in the Mare Frigoris region of the northern hemisphere of the near side of the moon, is now scheduled for 3:17 p.m. Eastern June 5, seven minutes earlier than previously announced.

The tweak in the landing time, ispace said, came after engineers reviewed maneuvers performed May 28 to lower the spacecraft’s orbit to 100 kilometers. “Their review of the orbit, the performance of the spacecraft, and the landing sequence have resulted in an updated landing time,” the company stated.