WORLD NEWS | Tokyo company aims to be first to send lander to the moon

TOKYO, April 25 (AP) — A Japanese company is about to try something no other private enterprise has ever done: land on the moon.

A month ago, Tokyo’s ispace Corporation sent its own spacecraft into orbit around the moon. Flight controllers will direct the craft, known as Hakuto (White Rabbit), to descend from an altitude of 60 miles (100 kilometers) and land on Tuesday.

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The 7-foot-tall lander is carrying a miniature lunar rover from the United Arab Emirates and a toy robot from Japan, designed to roll in lunar dust.

After blasting off in December, the White Rabbit followed a long and circuitous route to the moon, beaming back photos of Earth along the way.

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Only three governments have managed to land on the moon: Russia, the United States, and China. An Israeli nonprofit attempted to land on the moon in 2019, but its spacecraft was destroyed on impact. (Associated Press)

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