/sci/ - Science & Math

ispace Reveals its Lunar Micro-Rover for Mission 2, Rocket Lab Takes On Venus
---
https://payloadspace.com/ispace-reveals-its-lunar-micro-rover-for-mission-2/
> ispace is taking another stab at a lunar landing.
>The Japanese lunar infrastructure company has been hard at work figuring out where it all went wrong during its failed lunar landing attempt this year, and now it’s ready to try again. During Mission 2, slated for Q4 2024, ispace will send a lander and a micro-rover to the lunar surface with the intention of studying the terrain and collecting samples of lunar regolith.
> “During Mission 2, ispace is aiming not only to land on the Moon and explore the Moon,” ispace CEO Takeshi Hakamada said in a press conference. “We are also planning technology demonstrations and equipment for our payload customers and are aiming for groundbreaking activities in addition to the micro rover.”
---
https://payloadspace.com/rocket-lab-takes-on-venus/
> Deep space exploration isn’t just for governments anymore.
> “A private company going to another planet for some tens of millions of dollars to look for life—I think that’s kind of a mind shift…and a shift in exploration of our solar system,” Peter Beck, CEO of Rocket Lab, told Payload. “It can be done not with billions of dollars in front of it, and governments in front of it. It can be done with a relatively small amount of capital by a group of enthusiasts.”
> Rocket Lab announced last year that it had partnered with MIT to take on the first private mission to study Venus, which will look for signs of microbial life in the clouds. The team planned to build the system cheaply and quickly by NASA standards—the original goal was spring 2023, but it’s since been pushed to the next launch window, which opens in the last few days of 2024.