Private Japanese lunar lander closing in on unexplored top of the moon

A private lunar lander from Japan is closing in on the moon, aiming for a touchdown in the unexplored far north with a mini rover.

The moon landing attempt by Tokyo-based company ispace on Friday Japan time is the latest entry in the rapidly expanding commercial lunar rush.

The encore comes two years after the company's first moonshot ended in a crash landing, giving rise to the name Resilience for its successor lander. Resilience holds a rover with a shovel to gather lunar dirt as well as a Swedish artist's toy-size red house that will be lowered onto the moon's dusty surface.