See it: New NASA images show crash site of failed Japanese lunar lander
On June 6, the second Hakuto mission, nicknamed Resilience, was set to touch down on a 3.5 billion-year-old volcanic region of the Moon known as Mare Frigoris, or the Sea of Cold. However, hours after the targeted touchdown, engineers at the mission control center (MCC) in Tokyo were still working to confirm the status of the spacecraft. The company said the spacecraft likely crash-landed on the surface.
Firefly's Blue Ghost Begins Operations On The Moon After Upright Lunar Landing
NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft recently took the images below of the Hakuto impact site.
Before-and-after images from the LRO camera show the halo of the crash site where lunar regolith was moved, according to Arizona State University, which manages the instrument on the NASA spacecraft.
The early-June landing attempt most likely ended in a splat on the Moon because the Laser Range Finder (LRF) hardware was not functioning as designed, according to the company's investigation. The LRF tells the lander where it is in position to the Moon and when it needs to decelerate for a soft landing.
The company said it focused on two possibilities that could have caused an issue with the LRF: an installation and assembly error or deterioration of the LRF during the spaceflight to the Moon.
First Celestial Images From 10-Year Project Photographing The Universe Released
"The review detected no errors in the installation direction during AIT or attitude abnormalities during descent," ispace said in a news release. "The review therefore concluded that the possibility of 'deterioration in the performance of the LRF during flight or the performance itself was lower than expected' is high."
This is the second Moon landing attempt for ispace, and they don't plan to stop now. CEO Takeshi Hakamada said teams are already working on a correction for future missions.
"Since the moment of landing, we have remained committed to moving forward and identifying the root causes," Hakamada said. "For the past 18 days, every employee has worked tirelessly to be able to transparently share the results of the technical cause analysis. ispace will not let this be a setback. We will not stop here, but as determined pioneers of the cislunar economy, we will strive to regain the trust of all stakeholders and embark on the next mission: 'Never Quit the Lunar Quest.'"Original article source: See it: New NASA images show crash site of failed Japanese lunar lander
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBS News
14 minutes ago
- CBS News
Crew Dragon delivers 4 fresh crew members to International Space Station
A SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule homed in on the International Space Station early Saturday and glided in for a problem-free docking, delivering two NASA astronauts — a Russian cosmonaut and a Japanese flier — to the outpost after a 16-hour rendezvous. Catching up from behind and below, the Crew 11 Dragon Endeavour looped up ahead of the lab complex, then to a point directly above the outpost before slowly moving straight in for a linkup at the space-facing port of the forward Harmony module at 2:27 a.m. ET as the two spacecraft orbited 264 miles above the south Pacific Ocean. Hooks and latches then engaged, pulling the Crew Dragon's nose firmly into the docking mechanism, which locked the craft in place. Umbilicals automatically connected and flight controllers began a series of leak checks to verify an airtight structural seal. "Endeavour, welcome to the International Space Station," called NASA astronaut Jonny Kim from inside the ISS. "Zena, Mike, Kimi and Oleg, we have cold drinks, hot food and hugs waiting. See you soon." "Hello space station, Crew 11 is here!" Endeavour pilot Mike Fincke, a three-flight veteran, enthusiastically replied. "And we are super excited to join Expedition 73. We will do our best to also be good stewards of our beautiful ISS during our stay. The ISS has been inhabited and crewed for almost 25 years. We look forward to celebrating with you." Nearly three hours later, after doffing their spacesuits and configuring their capsule for docked operations, Fincke, Crew 11 commander Zena Cardman, making her first flight, Japanese veteran Kimiya Yui and rookie cosmonaut Oleg Platonov floated through the forward hatch to be welcomed aboard by the space station's seven-member crew. "We are so happy to see your smiling faces," said ISS commander Takuya Onishi. "Zena, Oleg, congratulations on your first spaceflight. We are looking forward to hearing your impressions and your feelings about that. Mike and Kimiya, welcome back. Your experience will be an invaluable asset for Expedition 73." Cardman was bumped from a Crew Dragon flight last year to help NASA bring two Starliner astronauts back to Earth after problems prevented them from coming home on their own spacecraft. She was clearly thrilled to finally be aboard the space station. "This has been the absolute journey of a lifetime," she said with a broad smile. "We are so incredibly grateful to be here. Thank you so much for this warm welcome. It was such an unbelievably beautiful sight to see the space station come into our view for the first time, especially with these wonderful crewmates." With the arrival of Crew 11, four of the station's crew members — Crew 10 commander Anne McClain, pilot Nichole Ayers, Onishi and cosmonaut Kirill Peskov — will be clear to undock and return to Earth next Wednesday to close out a 145-day mission. The other three — Kim and Soyuz MS-27/73S crewmates Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky — will remain aboard with Cardman and company to continue Expedition 73. Until now, long-duration crews, U.S. and Russian, have typically spent around six months in orbit. But starting with the Soyuz MS-27/73S mission, the Russians have switched to eight-month stays. NASA may follow suit with Crew 11. The Trump administration's proposed budget for fiscal 2026 would reduce NASA funding by nearly 25% while directing the agency to scale back work aboard the ISS in favor of more aggressive planning for eventual crewed missions to Mars. NASA managers are now considering lengthening crew stays and possibly reducing Dragon crews from four to three. A reduced crew would need fewer resupply missions, saving additional money. No final decisions have been made. But NASA is assessing the possibility of extending Crew 11's stay in space from six to eight months, depending on the actual funding outlook. "I can't wait to be in space, and two extra months would be a gift," Cardman said before launch. "Yes, we're baselined for six months right now, with the ability to extend that pending further analysis. For me, it would be an absolute privilege to stay for even longer."
Yahoo
21 minutes ago
- Yahoo
SpaceX launches 19 Starlink satellites from California, lands rocket on ship at sea (video)
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. SpaceX just sent another batch of its Starlink broadband satellites into the final frontier. A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 19 Starlink craft lifted off from California's foggy Vandenberg Space Force Base today (July 31) at 2:35 p.m. EDT (1835 GMT; 11:35 a.m. local California time). The rocket's first stage came back to Earth as planned about 8.5 minutes later, touching down in the Pacific Ocean on the SpaceX drone ship named "Of Course I Still Love You." It was the 27th launch and landing for this particular booster, which is designated 1071. That's just two shy of the company's reuse record, which was set earlier this month — and on the 500th overall Falcon 9 launch, no less. Booster 1071's previous missions NROL-87 | NROL-85 | SARah-1 | SWOT | Transporter-8 | Transporter-9 | Transporter-13 | NROL-146 | Bandwagon-2 | NROL-153 | NROL-192 | 15 Starlink missions The Falcon 9's upper stage continued carrying the 19 Starlink satellites toward low Earth orbit. That's where they'll be deployed 63 minutes after launch, if all goes according to plan. They'll join the more than 8,000 other active satellites in the Starlink megaconstellation, the biggest spacecraft assemblage ever constructed. Today's Starlink launch — the 94th Falcon 9 mission of the year already — was supposed to be the second half of a spaceflight doubleheader. SpaceX tried to launch the Crew-11 astronaut mission to the International Space Station for NASA today but scrubbed the attempt with about a minute left on the countdown clock due to bad weather.
CNET
2 hours ago
- CNET
Look to the Sky: Bright Fireballs Appear During the Perseids Meteor Shower
Skygazers rejoice, the summer isn't finished with delivering meteor showers to feast your eyes on. Last week saw dueling meteor showers taking over the sky, but the most popular meteor shower of the year won't hit its peak until next week. The Perseids meteor shower is about to give you a real light show, provided you're far enough away from light pollution to see it. Perseids are known for their bright fireballs and plentiful meteors. The show started on July 17, and will run through Aug. 23. The reason the Perseids meteor shower is so popular is twofold. First, it takes place in the summer, so going outside and watching it is less uncomfortable than other large meteor showers like Quadrantids, which takes place in wintery January. The other reason is that it's one of the most active meteor showers of the year. During its peak, the meteor shower is known to rain down as many as 100 meteors per hour, according to the American Meteor Society. These not only include your typical shooting stars, but also a higher chance for fireballs, which are meteors that explode as they enter orbit. Per NASA, fireballs tend to last longer than standard shooting stars and can come in a variety of different colors. Perseids come to Earth courtesy of the 109P/Swift-Tuttle comet. Earth's orbit around the sun brings it through Swift-Tuttle's tail every year. The comet itself takes 133 years to orbit the sun. Its last perihelion -- the point at which it's the closest to the sun -- was in 1992. It won't be back until the year 2125. Until then, it leaves behind an excellent tail of dust and debris to feed us yearly meteor showers. How to catch the Perseids meteor shower The best time to view the Perseids is during its peak, which occurs on the evenings of Aug. 12 and 13. During this time, the shower will produce anywhere from 25 to 100 meteors per hour on average. However, since the shower officially lasts for over a month, you have a chance to see a shooting star on any given evening, provided that you're far enough away from light pollution. Thus, if you're planning on watching this year's Perseids during their peak, you'll want to get out of the city and suburbs as far as possible. According to Bill Cooke, lead of NASA's Meteoroid Environments Office, folks in the city might see one or two meteors from the meteor shower per hour, which is pocket change compared to what those outside city limits might see. Regardless, once you've arrived at wherever you want to watch the meteors, you'll want to direct your attention to the radiant, or the point at which the meteors will appear to originate. Like all meteors, Perseids are named after the constellation from which they appear. In this case, it's Perseus. Per Stellarium's free sky map, Perseus will rise from the northeastern horizon across the continental US on the evenings of Aug. 12 and 13. It'll then rise into the eastern sky, where it'll remain until after sunrise. So, in short, point yourself due east and you should be OK. Binoculars may help, but we recommend against telescopes since they'll restrict your view of the sky to a very small portion, which may hinder your meteor-sighting efforts. The American Meteor Society also notes that the moon may give viewers some difficulty. Perseids' peak occurs just three days after August's full moon, so the moon will still be mostly full. Thus, it is highly probable that light pollution from the moon may reduce the number of visible meteors by a hefty margin, depending on how things go.
