Private Japanese Lander Captures Sunlit Section of Moon from Lunar Orbit

A Japan lunar landing mission called HAKUTO-R M1 was launched on SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on December 11 2022.

On March 20, the privately owned Lunar Lander entered the lunar orbit last week and photographed the Moon with its lander-mounted camera. And it will likely land on the Moon by the end of April.

Japanese lunar exploration company ispace revealed the first picture of the Moon taken from its own developed lander in a tweet and added more breathtaking lunar sights are awaited.

The captured image showcases a section of the Moon lit by the sun.

In contrast to the dark background of space, the wide range of bright light impacts the craters on the surface of the Moon (bowl-shaped depressions caused by asteroids and meteorite impacts.)

Also, showing partially shadowed craters on the lunar limb or the visible edge of the Moon viewed from Earth.

It’s a great achievement as no private spacecraft ever made a smooth landing on the Moon other than those operated by NASA, China, and Russia.

According to the internal information, if Hakuto-R M1 is a successful mission, it will send a tiny rover named Rashid to the United Arab Emirates space agency.