'High probability' lander crashed on moon, says Japanese company

Employees of “ispace” react after the company announced they lost signal from the lander in HAKUTO-R lunar exploration program on the Moon at a venue to watch its landing in Tokyo, Japan, April 26, 2023.Official word finally came in a statement: “It has been determined that there is a high probability that the lander eventually made a hard landing on the moon’s surface.”

“If space is hard, landing is harder,” tweeted Laurie Leshin, director of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “I know from personal experience how awful this feels.”Article contentLeshin worked on NASA’s Mars Polar lander that crashed on the red planet in 1999. It took a roundabout route to the moon following its December liftoff, beaming back photos of Earth along the way. The lander entered lunar orbit on March 21.

Founded in 2010, ispace hopes to start turning a profit as a one-way taxi service to the moon for other businesses and organizations. The company has already raised $300 million to cover the first three missions, according to Hakamada.For this test flight, the two main experiments were government-sponsored: the UAE’s 22-pound rover Rashid, named after Dubai’s royal family, and the Japanese Space Agency’s orange-sized sphere designed to transform into a wheeled robot on the moon.

Canada Canada Latest News, Canada Canada Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

Japanese company: 'High probability' lander crashed on moonA Japanese company’s spacecraft apparently crashed while attempting to land on the moon Wednesday, losing contact moments before touchdown and sending flight controllers scrambling to figure out what happened.
Source: timescolonist - 🏆 15. / 75 Read more »

Japanese company: 'High probability' lander crashed on moonA Japanese company’s spacecraft apparently crashed while attempting to land on the moon Wednesday, losing contact moments before touchdown and sending flight controllers scrambling to figure out what happened.
Source: timescolonist - 🏆 15. / 75 Read more »

'High probability' lander crashed on moon, says Japanese companyA Japanese company\u0027s spacecraft apparently crashed while attempting to land on the moon Wednesday.
Source: calgarysun - 🏆 63. / 52 Read more »

Japanese company loses contact with moon lander in likely crash‘We have to assume that we could not complete the landing on the lunar surface,’ said ispace founder and CEO Takeshi Hakamada
Source: globeandmail - 🏆 5. / 92 Read more »

Japanese company loses contact with spacecraft after attempting to land on the moon | CBC NewsA Japanese company tried to land its own spacecraft on the moon early Wednesday, but its fate was unknown as flight controllers lost contact with it moments before the planned touchdown.
Source: natnewswatch - 🏆 58. / 59 Read more »