Japanese company: 'High probability' lander crashed on moon

More than six hours after communication ceased, the Tokyo company ispace finally confirmed what everyone had suspected, saying there was “a high probability” that the lander had slammed into the moon.

If all had gone well, ispace would have been the first private business to pull off a lunar landing. Hakamada vowed to try again, saying a second moonshot is already in the works for next year. Named Hakuto, Japanese for white rabbit, the spacecraft had targeted Atlas crater in the northeastern section of the moon’s near side, more than 50 miles across and just over 1 mile deep.

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.

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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
مصدر: globeandmail - 🏆 5. / 92 اقرأ أكثر »

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.
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