A Japanese private lunar lander from ispace crashed during its landing attempt on the moon, marking the company’s second failure in this venture. On Friday, communication was lost just two minutes before the planned touchdown with a mini rover on board. After failing to re-establish contact, ispace officials declared the mission a failure. Takeshi Hakamada, the CEO, expressed apologies to all involved and acknowledged the gravity of the situation, as this follows a previous crash two years ago, leading to the lander’s name “Resilience.”
The preliminary analysis indicated issues with the altitude-measuring laser, which led to an excessively rapid descent and likely resulted in a hard landing. Despite these setbacks, Hakamada is determined to continue pursuing further lunar missions. Launched from Florida, Resilience operated from lunar orbit for some time but ultimately fell short of its objective.
In contrast, other private firms, like Firefly Aerospace and Intuitive Machines, have had more success. Firefly’s Blue Ghost achieved a successful landing in March, while Intuitive Machines faced difficulties shortly after that.
Resilience was equipped with a rover called Tenacious, designed for lunar exploration and scientific endeavors, including a unique artistic component, a Swedish-style red cottage, left on the moon’s surface. Hakamada had previously expressed confidence, claiming the lessons learned from past mistakes would ensure success this time.
Ispace aims to mitigate the risks of repeated failures, as financial constraints limit the potential for continued mishaps. Other U.S. companies, including Blue Origin and Astrobotic, also target upcoming lunar missions, demonstrating the competitive landscape for moon exploration amidst ongoing setbacks.
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