Lander
착륙선
A spacecraft built to touch down softly on the surface of the Moon or a planet.
Overview
The Moon has no air, so a parachute cannot be used. A lander fires its engine backward to slow down, and it looks at the ground by itself to pick a flat place to land. The final moments of the descent cannot be steered one by one from the Earth, so the lander has to decide on its own. That is why failures are common.
A lander works at the spot where it came down, while a rover rolls off the lander and drives around on wheels to explore. In 2024, a lander built by a private company landed on the Moon for the first time. A new arrangement has also appeared in which a national space agency pays a private lander to carry its experiment equipment.
An everyday example
It is like setting an egg down on the floor from a height without breaking it. If it is a little too fast or tilted, it tips over, and sometimes a lander lands but cannot do its job.
Why it matters
A large part of lunar exploration news is whether the landing succeeded. Success and failure are decided in a short, clear moment, so a lander company's future often depends on a single landing.