Earth captured by Japan’s private Resilience moon lander, developed by the Tokyo-based company ispace. This image, taken on February 18, 2025, showcases Earth as a striking "Blue Marble," reminiscent of the iconic Apollo-era photographs, with its vibrant blue oceans and swirling white clouds contrasting against the blackness of space. The photograph was snapped as the Resilience lander, part of ispace’s Mission 2, continued its journey toward a planned lunar landing on June 5, 2025.
Here's a breakdown of the key information regarding the Resilience moon lander and the "Blue Marble" photo:
- Resilience Lander:
- This is a lunar lander built by the Tokyo-based company ispace.
- It launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on January 15, 2025, alongside Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost lander.
- Resilience is on a long, looping trajectory to the moon.
- ispace has announced that the lander is scheduled to attempt its lunar touchdown on June 5, 2025.
- It has taken images of earth, showing earth as a blue marble.
- The Landers target landing site is near the center of Mare Frigoris ("Sea of Cold"), a basaltic plain in the moon's northern reaches.
- "Blue Marble" Photo:
- Resilience has captured stunning images of Earth, reminiscent of the iconic "Blue Marble" photograph.
- These images showcase Earth's beauty from the perspective of a spacecraft traveling to the moon.
- Key points regarding other Lunar landers.
- Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lunar lander successfully landed on the moon on March 2, 2025.
- Intuitive Machines, which had a successful landing in 2024, will attempt another landing on March 6th, 2025.
- Significance:
- These missions are part of a growing trend of private companies participating in lunar exploration.
- They contribute valuable data and pave the way for future human missions to the moon, including NASA's Artemis program.
I hope this information is helpful.
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