This illustration provided by ispace in April 2023 depicts the Hakuto spacecraft on the surface of the moon with the Earth in the background. On Tuesday, April 25, 2023, flight controllers plan to direct the craft to descend from orbit and land on the moon's surface. Tokyo's ispace company put its own spacecraft into orbit around the moon a month ago. On Tuesday, flight controllers will direct the craft, named Hakuto, Japanese for white rabbit, to descend from 60 miles high and land.
The 7-foot lander is carrying a mini lunar rover for the United Arab Emirates and a toylike robot from Japan designed to roll around in the moon dust. Hakuto took a long, roundabout route to the moon following its December liftoff, beaming back photos of Earth along the way. Only three governments have successfully landed on the moon: Russia, the United States and China. An Israeli nonprofit tried to land on the moon in 2019, but its spacecraft was destroyed on impact.The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Science and Educational Media Group.