Japanese startup Ispace has announced that its Resilience lunar lander has completed all planned orbital maneuvers while circling the moon and is now being readied for a landing attempt scheduled for early Friday morning.
The company released a statement Saturday saying the lander will begin its descent from a circular lunar orbit at 3:20 a.m. Friday, automatically firing its main propulsion system to gradually decelerate and adjust its altitude.
The goal is to achieve a soft landing near the Mare Frigoris, or Sea of Cold, in the moon’s northern hemisphere.
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