Japan's private moon lander assumed lost after attempted landing

Apr 26 (livemint.com) - A private Japanese moon mission failed on Tuesday after thecommunication with the spacecraft was lost andthe moon lander appeared to have crash landed on the surface following a landing attempt.

It was poised to become the first commercial space attempt to place a lander on the moon surface.

Japanese startup ispace said the lander Hakuto -R Mission 1 hovered above the moon surface, slowing down to smoothly touch down after an engine cut-off. The mission control lost contact with the lander minutes before the landing time andcould not re-establish communication with the lander after its expected landing time.

The landerwas scheduled to land on the moon surface on Tuesday at 12:40 pm ET (1640 GMT Tuesday).

Our HAKUTO-R Mission 1 Lunar Lander was expected to land on the surface of the Moon at 1:40 am JST on April 26, 2023. At this time, our Mission Control Center in Tokyo has not been able to confirm the success of the lander. (1/2)#ispace #HAKUTO_R #lunarquest
— ispace (@ispace_inc) April 25, 2023

The lander was targeting a landing site at the Moon’s Atlas crater in the far northern hemisphere called Mare Frigoris, also known as the Sea of Cold. ...continue reading

Source: ANNnewsCH

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