A Japanese spacecraft has taken and transmitted a remarkable new photograph of the moon’s surface, providing a preview of its targeted landing area just days before arrival. The image, captured by Tokyo-based company ispace’s lunar lander Resilience, showcases the rugged landscape of the moon’s south pole — an area of significant interest for space agencies like NASA because of the ice found in permanently shadowed craters. This ice could potentially be converted into essential resources like rocket fuel, oxygen, and drinking water for upcoming space missions.

Nonetheless, the image could deceive the viewer’s perception.

“This image may present an optical illusion to some,” ispace stated in a post on X (formerly Twitter). “Though filled with concave craters, from this angle they might appear as convex to the eye.”

The illusion arises from a phenomenon known as “relief inversion,” often called by astronomers the “crater illusion” or “crater-dome illusion.” It happens because our brains are trained to interpret shadows as if they are cast by a light source situated above — akin to the sun in the sky. However, in many spacecraft images, the illumination comes from a low angle, causing craters to look like domes and depressions to resemble rises.

As noted by the European Space Agency, this complicates the immediate assessment of whether the landscape is elevating or declining. NASA’s Earth Observatory points out that this problem is particularly noticeable when sunlight strikes south-facing slopes, casting shadows on those facing north. To alleviate this issue, satellite images are typically oriented with north at the top.

Resilience was launched in mid-January and has been orbiting the moon as part of ispace’s second attempt at a lunar landing. The company’s initial mission in 2022 resulted in failure when the lander depleted its fuel and crashed down.

This new endeavor, known as Hakuto-R, aims for a landing near the center of Mare Frigoris. The touchdown is set for 3:24 p.m. ET on June 5 (June 6 in Japan), with livestream coverage starting at 2:15 p.m. ET, featuring English commentary.

If successful, the lander will spend around two weeks performing experiments on the lunar surface before powering down for the harsh lunar night.

Landing on the moon continues to be a daunting task. While Firefly Aerospace succeeded in landing earlier this year, another U.S. company, Intuitive Machines, found its lander toppled in a crater just days later.

The challenge arises from the moon’s exosphere, which lacks the atmospheric resistance that aids in slowing spacecraft during descent on Earth. Furthermore, the moon has no GPS infrastructure, requiring engineers to guide landers from 239,000 miles away.

Whether ispace will achieve success this time remains uncertain. For now, the team is relishing the breathtaking views from orbit — and providing a useful suggestion for those having difficulty interpreting the image.

“Rotate the image,” the company advises, “or tilt your head to alter your viewpoint!”