Japan and US firms ready moon landers for Florida launch

Two moon landers, one from Japan's ispace and another from U.S. space firm Firefly, were fastened atop a SpaceX rocket in Florida on Tuesday ahead of an unusual double moonshot launch, underscoring the global rush to peruse the lunar surface. Japanese space exploration company ispace will launch its Hakuto-R Mission 2, making its second attempt to land on the moon after an initial mission in April 2023 failed in its final moments because of an altitude miscalculation. While Texas-based Firefly …