Private Japanese probe to bring tiny Swedish house to the moon
The Japanese space company ispace wants to attempt a moon landing, having already failed once. Art from Sweden will be on board.
The tiny Swedish house by artist Mikael Genberg on board the Ispace rover "Tenacious": the lunar vehicle is to place the artwork on the Earth's satellite.
The private Japanese space company Ispace wants to launch to the moon again – with, among other things, a tiny house by a Swedish artist in its luggage. On his behalf, a so-called rover, a moon car, is to place the work of art on the moon. The mission could also use the bizarre cargo as a lucky charm: The first Ispace moon landing attempt of the "Hakuto-R Mission 1" in April 2023 ended in a crash landing.
The probe is scheduled to be launched in December 2024 at the earliest. The lunar probe named "Resilience" will then be launched from the Cape Canaveral spaceport in Florida using a Falcon 9 launcher from Elon Musk's aerospace company SpaceX. On board the probe will be the "Tenacious" micro-rover, a small lunar vehicle that will, among other things, place the Swedish cargo on the Earth's satellite.
A mini Swedish house for the moon
The mini Swedish house is the work of Swedish artist Mikael Genberg. It is called "The Moonhouse" and is a model of the iconic prefabricated houses with the red walls and white corners. Over the past 25 years, the Swede has already placed similar models in various locations around the world, for example on the Great Wall of China or the Avicii Arena in Stockholm. However, the aim of the project has always been – as the name suggests – to put a "Moonhouse" on the moon. One milestone was the International Space Station (ISS) in 2009: Sweden's first astronaut Christer Fuglesang took a "Moonhouse" with him on his mission.
Artist Genberg says about the purpose of his project: "Perhaps the first house on the moon can be a symbol of the eternal task of life, to ensure our own survival and further development – a different view of our existence and the earth." Whether Glenberg and Ispace's ambitions become a reality depends on the success of the "Hakuto-R Mission 2".
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Landing at "Mare Frigoris" planned
The lunar probe "Resilience" is to land in the "Mare Frigoris" area on the Northern Hemisphere of the moon facing the Earth. This will also ensure a sufficient supply of sunlight and the probe's ability to communicate. The "Tenacious" rover carries the "Moonhouse" and the mission's other payload, can set it down on the moon and pick up resources. The vehicle also offers video transmission and route data transmission. The rover is 26 centimetres high, 31.5 centimetres wide, 54 centimetres long and weighs around five kilograms. It was developed by Ispace Europe in Luxembourg.
In addition to the "Moonhouse", the "Tenacious" rover has four other items on board. A water electrolysis system, a module for food production experiments, a device for measuring space radiation and a memorial plate made of a special alloy.
First "Hakuto-R" mission ended disastrously
The "Hakuto-R Mission 1" ended in disaster in April 2023. After the space probe had flown for four months on a fuel-saving route towards the moon, the mission team lost radio contact. Those responsible assumed that the probe had crashed onto the moon, which was later confirmed when NASA found fragments of the probe there.
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The Japanese company Ispace specializes in the development and construction of lunar landers and rovers. In this way, Ispace aims to open up the moon and space in general as a human habitat by offering regular, cost-effective transportation to the moon. Ispace's lunar missions have so far run under the name "Hakuto R." "Hakuto" is Japanese for "white rabbit", the R stands for "reboot".
(mki)
