A Japan-based company will attempt to land on the moon. Here’s why its lander spent months, not days, in space

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Nearly five months ago, a SpaceX rocket launched out of Florida carrying two lunar landers. The Blue Ghost spacecraft, from Texas-based Firefly Aerospace, zoomed to the moon, and in March it became the first robotic commercial vehicle to land upright on the lunar surface.

The other spacecraft, developed by Japan-based company Ispace, is just now arriving at its destination.

Resilience, as the uncrewed lunar lander is called, is on track to make its touchdown attempt at 3:24 p.m. ET on Thursday — three months after its rideshare buddy made history.

Ispace isn’t too concerned about losing out on a “first” superlative. And