Japanese private space company iSpace launched its Hakuto-R lander on December 11 aboard the SpaceX Falcon 9. It took off from the US Space Force Station (Cape Canaveral, Florida) and about 19 hours after separating from the rocket, the spacecraft took its first images featuring Earth. Thus, the probe said ‘goodbye’ to our planet to continue on its way to the Moon.
Hakuto-R is a small lunar spacecraft developed with the intention of landing on the surface of our natural satellite. iSpace is the first private company to do so. Mission 1 (M1) could usher in a new era of commercial launches to the Moon.
The picture of Hakuto-R was taken from its mounted camera and shared by ispace on its official Twitter account. Although it looks like a picture of the Moon, it’s actually An image of Earth as seen from cislunar space. In the image you can see a portion illuminated by sunlight, while the rest of the globe is opaque.
While initial checkout operations continue at ispace’s Mission Control Center (MCC), we’ve also received the first images taken by our lander-mounted camera!
This is a picture of Earth about 19 hours after separation from the launch vehicle. pic.twitter.com/BcM6mrw1Qb
— ispace (@ispace_inc) December 13, 2022
In addition to that capture, the ship also showed up with another a multi-camera imaging system Developed by Canadansys Aerospace Corporation. In it, the Earth is viewed in the same way as we are used to.
“We are very pleased with the performance of the imaging system and the quality of the first images in space,” said Frank Teti, general manager of Canadensis, which developed the imaging system. “The harsh environment of the lunar surface is always a challenge for designing systems to work with, but we think we’ve solved it.We look forward to sharing equally spectacular images from when we landed on the Moon,
With Hakuto-R, iSpace will try to send its own payloads to the Moon, including Rover Rashidwhich weighs only 10 kg and is made by the United Arab Emirates, and SORA-Q, a transformable ball-shaped robotDeveloped by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and toy brand TOMY.
The lander will reach the moon in April and only then will it attempt to land on its surface. For now, iSpace has confirmed that the position of the spacecraft and its power supply are stable in orbit.
Our ops team has been able to successfully establish a stable attitude for the HAKUTO-R Mission 1 lunar lander, as well as verify a stable power supply in orbit. pic.twitter.com/O3IkHNp8BQ
— ispace (@ispace_inc) December 13, 2022
sign up for us News bulletin And get the latest technology news in your inbox.
