Japan's ispace says moon lander unexpectedly accelerated and likely crashed

Apr 27 (Tempo) - Japan's ispace inc said its attempt to make the first private moon landing had failed after losing contact with its Hakuto-R Mission 1 (M1) lander when it unexpectedly accelerated and probably crashed on the lunar surface.

The startup said it was possible that as the lander approached the moon, its altitude measurement system had miscalculated the distance to the surface.

"It apparently went into a free-fall towards the surface as it was running out of fuel to fire up its thrusters," Chief Technology Officer Ryo Ujiie told a news conference on Wednesday, April 26.

It was the second setback for commercial space development in a week after SpaceX's Starship rocket exploded spectacularly minutes after soaring off its launch pad. ...continue reading

Source: ANNnewsCH

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