A Historic Moment – The First House on the Moon
In a truly unique space endeavor, the Swedish art project The Moonhouse has placed a red cottage with white corners on the Moon. Through a fully privately funded initiative, art and culture have been united with space exploration in an innovative and groundbreaking way – a milestone for both the art world and the space industry.
Edited photo from Astronautcenter in Cologne.
Despite the lander from the Japanese space company ispace performing what has been described as a “hard landing” and the loss of communication, one thing is clear: The Moonhouse is on the Moon.
It is – and remains – the first house ever placed on the lunar surface.
Our effort was impeccable. Everything we set out to do, we accomplished. All technical hurdles were overcome, and the project received global attention – not least from the space sector. The only thing we’re missing are the iconic images of the house on the Moon we’ve long hoped for, says Mikael Genberg, the artist behind the project.
At the official landing event in Tokyo, the emotional impact of the house was clear. After the hard landing, an ispace team member was moved to tears at the sight of the Moonhouse – which had become a symbol of something new in the space world. A small, but meaningful gamechanger. An artwork that redefines what human presence in space can mean.
The fact that our little Swedish house is now on the Moon is a technical and programmatic breakthrough. Despite the hard landing of the spacecraft, we know the payload was delivered – and that’s proof of what small, focused teams can achieve in this new era of spaceflight, says Emil Vinterhav, CTO and CEO of The Moonhouse.
On June 6, ispace announced in an official statement that communication with the RESILIENCE lander could not be re-established after touchdown and that the mission had therefore been concluded. The full statement is available here:
https://ispace-inc.com/news-en/?p=7664
The project team will now carry out an internal debriefing and evaluate the potential for a continuation. A fully developed deployment mechanism and a second house are already prepared – all that remains is a new ride to the Moon.
The Moonhouse is not over.
It has only just begun.
For more information, please contact:
Hans Elis Johansson
Communications Lead, The Moonhouse
+46 705 13 60 35
