Latest news with #MoonLanding
News.com.au
5 days ago
- Business
- News.com.au
Japanese company aborts Moon mission after assumed crash-landing
Japan's hopes of achieving its first soft touchdown on the Moon by a private company were dashed Friday when the mission was aborted after an assumed crash-landing, the startup said. Tokyo-based ispace had hoped to make history as only the third private firm -- and the first outside the United States -- to achieve a controlled arrival on the lunar surface. But "based on the currently available data... it is currently assumed that the lander likely performed a hard landing", the startup said. "It is unlikely that communication with the lander will be restored" so "it has been decided to conclude the mission", ispace said in a statement. The failure comes two years after a prior mission ended in a crash. The company's unmanned Resilience spacecraft began its daunting final descent and "successfully fired its main engine as planned to begin deceleration", ispace said Friday. Mission control confirmed that the lander's positioning was "nearly vertical" -- but contact was then lost, with the mood on a livestream from mission control turning sombre. Technical problems meant "the lander was unable to decelerate sufficiently to reach the required speed for the planned lunar landing", ispace said. - High-profile payloads - To date, only five nations have achieved soft lunar landings: the Soviet Union, the United States, China, India, and most recently Japan. Now, private companies are joining the race, promising cheaper and more frequent access to space. On board the Resilience lander were several high-profile payloads. They included Tenacious, a Luxembourg-built micro rover; a water electrolyser to split molecules into hydrogen and oxygen; a food production experiment; and a deep-space radiation probe. The rover also carried "Moonhouse" -- a small model home designed by Swedish artist Mikael Genberg. "I take the fact that the second attempt failed to land seriously," CEO Takeshi Hakamada told reporters. "But the most important thing is to use this result" for future missions, he said, describing a "strong will to move on, although we have to carefully analyse what happened". Last year, Houston-based Intuitive Machines became the first private enterprise to reach the Moon. Though its uncrewed lander touched down at an awkward angle, it still managed to complete tests and transmit photos. Then in March this year, Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost -- launched on the same SpaceX rocket as ispace's Resilience -- aced its lunar landing attempt. - Never quit - The mood ahead of Friday's attempt had been celebratory, with a watch party also held by iSpace's US branch in Washington. After contact was lost, announcers on an ispace livestream signed off with the message: "Never quit the lunar quest." The mission had also aimed to collect two lunar soil samples and sell them to NASA for $5,000. Though the samples would remain on the Moon, the symbolic transaction is meant to strengthen the US stance that commercial activity -- though not sovereign claims -- should be allowed on celestial bodies. Landing on the Moon is highly challenging as spacecraft must rely on precisely controlled thruster burning to slow their descent over treacherous terrain. Intuitive Machines' second attempt at a Moon landing ended in disappointment in late March. Its spacecraft Athena, designed to touch down on a spot called the Mons Mouton plateau -- closer to the lunar south pole than any previous mission -- tipped over and was unable to recharge its solar-powered batteries. ia-kh-kaf/hmn
Malay Mail
5 days ago
- Business
- Malay Mail
Japanese company aborts Moon mission after losing contact with lander
TOKYO, June 6 — Japan's hopes of achieving its first soft landing on the Moon by a private company were dashed today when the mission was aborted over lost contact with the Resilience spacecraft during a daunting final descent. Tokyo-based ispace had hoped to make history as only the third private firm — and the first outside the United States — to achieve a controlled touchdown on the lunar surface with its robotic lander. But it decided to end the mission as 'recovery of communication with the lander is unlikely', CEO Takeshi Hakamada told reporters. Resilience began falling during the landing attempt, and mission control fired the engines to slow it down, he said. 'We confirmed that the lander's position moved to almost vertical', but 'after the planned landing time we were not able to receive data that confirms its landing'. The failure comes two years after a prior mission ended in a crash. Touchdown had been scheduled for 4:17am Japan time today on the Mare Frigoris region of the Moon's northern hemisphere. But the mood in mission control turned sombre, and around 15 minutes after the scheduled time, announcers on a livestream said attempts to communicate with the lander would continue. They signed off with the message: 'Never quit the lunar quest.' On board the lander were several high-profile payloads: Tenacious, a Luxembourg-built micro rover; a water electrolyser to split molecules into hydrogen and oxygen; a food production experiment; and a deep-space radiation probe. The rover also carried 'Moonhouse,' a model home designed by Swedish artist Mikael Genberg. Lunar soil The mission had also aimed to collect two lunar soil samples and sell them to Nasa for US$5,000 (RM21,143). Though the samples would remain on the Moon, the symbolic transaction is meant to strengthen the US stance that commercial activity — though not sovereign claims — should be allowed on celestial bodies. To date, only five nations have achieved soft lunar landings: the Soviet Union, the United States, China, India, and Japan. Now, private companies are joining the race, promising cheaper and more frequent access to space. Last year, Houston-based Intuitive Machines became the first private enterprise to reach the Moon. Though its uncrewed lander touched down at an awkward angle, it still managed to complete tests and transmit photos. Then in March this year, Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost — launched on the same SpaceX rocket as ispace's Resilience — aced its lunar landing attempt. Despite their rocket ride-share, Resilience took longer to reach the Moon than Blue Ghost, and ispace was now hoping for its own moment of glory, after its first mission resulted in an unsalvageable 'hard landing' in 2023. Landing on the Moon is highly challenging as spacecraft must rely on precisely controlled thruster burning to slow their descent over treacherous terrain. Intuitive Machines' second attempt at a Moon landing ended in disappointment in late March. Its spacecraft Athena, designed to touch down on a spot called the Mons Mouton plateau — closer to the lunar south pole than any previous mission — tipped over and was unable to recharge its solar-powered batteries. — AFP
BreakingNews.ie
5 days ago
- Business
- BreakingNews.ie
Private Japanese lunar lander heads towards touchdown in the Moon's far north
A private lunar lander from Japan is closing in on the Moon, aiming for a touchdown in the unexplored far north with a mini rover. The Moon landing attempt by Tokyo-based company ispace on Friday Japan time is the latest entry in the rapidly expanding commercial lunar rush. Advertisement The encore comes two years after the company's first moonshot ended in a crash landing, giving rise to the name Resilience for its successor lander. Resilience holds a rover with a shovel to gather lunar dirt as well as a Swedish artist's toy-size red house that will be lowered onto the Moon's dusty surface. Long the province of governments, the Moon became a target of private outfits in 2019, with more flops than wins along the way. Launched in January from Florida on a long, roundabout journey, Resilience entered lunar orbit last month. Advertisement Deployment of @Firefly_Space 's Blue Ghost lunar lander confirmed — SpaceX (@SpaceX) January 15, 2025 It shared a SpaceX ride with Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost, which reached the Moon faster and became the first private entity to successfully land there in March. Another US company, Intuitive Machines, arrived at the Moon a few days after Firefly. But the tall, spindly lander face-planted in a crater near the Moon's south pole and was declared dead within hours. Resilience is targeting the top of the Moon, a less forbidding place than the shadowy bottom. The ispace team chose a flat area with few boulders in Mare Frigoris or Sea of Cold, a long and narrow region full of craters and ancient lava flows that stretches across the near side's northern tier. Advertisement Once settled with power and communication flowing, the 7.5-foot Resilience will beam back pictures, expected several hours or more after touchdown. It will be at least the weekend, according to ispace, before the lander lowers the piggybacking rover onto the lunar surface. Made of carbon fibre-reinforced plastic with four wheels, ispace's European-built rover — named Tenacious — sports a high-definition camera to scout out the area and a shovel to scoop up some lunar dirt for Nasa. The rover, weighing just five kilograms, will stick close to the lander, going in circles at a speed of less than one inch per second. Advertisement It is capable of venturing up to two-thirds of a mile from the lander and should be operational throughout the two-week mission, the period of daylight. Besides science and tech experiments, there is an artistic touch. The rover holds a tiny, Swedish-style red cottage with white trim and a green door, dubbed the Moonhouse by creator Mikael Genberg, for placement on the lunar surface. Takeshi Hakamada, CEO and founder of ispace, considers the latest moonshot 'merely a stepping stone', with its next, much bigger lander launching by 2027 with Nasa involvement, and even more to follow. Advertisement 'We're not trying to corner the market. We're trying to build the market,' Jeremy Fix, chief engineer for ispace's US subsidiary, said at a conference last month. 'It's a huge market, a huge potential.' Mr Fix noted that ispace, like other businesses, does not have 'infinite funds' and cannot afford repeated failures. While not divulging the cost of the current mission, company officials said it is less than the first one which exceeded 100 million dollars.
The National
6 days ago
- Business
- The National
Japanese company to make second Moon landing attempt
Japan's ispace is preparing to attempt a second Moon landing on Friday, more than two years after its first mission ended in failure moments before touchdown. The private space company is aiming to deliver its Resilience lander safely onto the lunar surface at 4.17am JST (11.17pm GST) on June 6, with a livestream on the company's website scheduled to begin an hour earlier. If successful, it would be a major milestone for ispace and will help validate the role of commercial firms in lunar exploration. The company's spacecraft - which was carrying the UAE's Rashid rover and payload from other countries - crashed on the lunar surface during a landing attempt in 2023. 'Just over two years ago, on April 26, 2023, ispace, operating Hakuto-R Mission 1, became the first private company in the world to attempt a lunar landing," company founder Takeshi Hakamada said on Wednesday. "While the mission achieved significant results, we lost communication with the lander just before touchdown. 'Since that time, we have drawn on the experience, using it as motivation to move forward with resolve. We are now at the dawn of our next attempt to make history." The mission is part of a broader vision by ispace, which is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, to help build what it calls a cislunar economy, in the space between the Earth and the Moon. But the company must first prove that it can land a spacecraft intact, something only a handful of government space agencies and two private firms have achieved to date. Second chance After ispace's 2023 lunar landing attempt, engineers discovered that the Hakuto-R lander had misjudged its altitude. Believing it had landed when it was still in the air, it shut off its engines prematurely, causing it to crash. It was the first attempt by a private company and, despite failing, it provided crucial data for engineers. The Resilience lander is carrying commercial payloads, including the Tenacious rover by the European Space Agency, and aims to demonstrate ispace's capability to offer transportation services to the Moon. A third mission is planned for 2026. Tough field Several private companies have attempted to land on the Moon in recent years. In January 2024, US-based Astrobotic launched its Peregrine lander, but a propellant leak soon after deployment led to mission failure. The following month, Intuitive Machines achieved the first successful private Moon landing with its Odysseus lander, though the spacecraft tipped over after touchdown. In March this year, Texas-based Firefly Aerospace became the first company to complete a fully successful private lunar landing with its Blue Ghost mission, operating on the surface for two weeks. Intuitive Machines followed with Athena, which also reached the Moon but landed on its side, prematurely ending the mission. Creating lunar access While the short-term goal of these missions is proving technical capability, experts say the long-term stakes are much higher. Dr Dimitra Atri, an astrophysicist at New York University Abu Dhabi, said the Moon could serve as a critical hub for future deep space missions. 'Harnessing the water on the Moon to produce oxygen and hydrogen, essential components of rocket fuel, holds the potential to transform lunar mining operations into a 'gas station' for future space missions,' he told The National. 'The Moon could serve as a launching point for spacecraft, offering a cost-effective alternative due to its lower gravity.' Commercial players such as ispace hope to play a leading role by offering regular transport to and from the lunar surface. Anna Hazlett, founder of UAE space advisory firm AzurX, told The National that if companies succeed in establishing access, it would change how space missions are designed. 'A commercial lunar transport service lowers the barrier to entry for space agencies and research institutions,' she said. 'It's a shift from bespoke, typically government-led missions to scalable lunar logistics, much like what SpaceX did for low Earth orbit.' Dr Atri said this business model would also benefit scientists like him. 'If I want to carry out a scientific experiment on the Moon, I will have to design the entire mission, propose it to a space agency, and the launch will be in about a decade from conception,' he said. 'In the case of private companies, I only need to focus on building my experiment and the company will deliver the payload to the Moon rather quickly." Nerve-racking moments ispace has made upgrades to its lander systems, including improved software and navigation tools, for the second landing. Because the Moon has no atmosphere, engineers cannot use parachutes to slow down the spacecraft. Instead it has to use its propulsion system to change velocity and attitude. The unstable terrain of the lunar surface can hamper a safe landing. 'We strongly believe this endeavour and its long-term success will contribute to making life on Earth sustainable for all humanity,' said Mr Hakamada. If the vehicle successfully lands, it will operate on the Moon for two weeks.
Gizmodo
6 days ago
- Science
- Gizmodo
Watch Live as Japanese Startup Attempts Moon Landing After Failed First Mission
The Resilience lander has spent the past six months traveling to the Moon, with plans to touch down in its far northern region. Japanese company ispace is aiming for a Thursday landing—its second attempt to reach the lunar surface. Resilience is set to land on June 5 at 3:24 p.m. ET, aiming for a smooth touchdown near the center of the Mare Frigoris region (which roughly translates to the sea of cold). The landing attempt will be streamed live on ispace's YouTube channel, beginning around one hour before the scheduled touchdown. You can also tune in through the feed below. Tokyo-based ispace launched its second mission to the Moon on January 15. Resilience hitched a ride along with another lander headed to the Moon. Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost landed on the Moon on March 2, while Resilience took a much longer route. Resilience first operated in an elliptical transfer orbit before using a lunar flyby to move into a low-energy transfer trajectory that will then enable it to attempt a soft landing. The lander has successfully checked off all of its orbital maneuvers and will remain in a low lunar orbit until the big day, according to ispace. For its landing attempt, Resilience will automatically fire its main propulsion system to gradually decelerate and adjust its altitude to begin descent from its current orbit toward the lunar surface. The Resilience lander is carrying a small rover, named Tenacious, to Mare Frigoris, located in the Moon's far northern regions. It's also packed with science instruments, mainly from commercial space ventures in Japan, designed to explore the lunar surface. This is ispace's second attempt to land on the Moon, although the first was unsuccessful. In April 2023, the Hakuto-R Mission 1 (M1) Lunar Lander plummeted towards the Moon and crashed on its surface. The company later revealed that, during the lander's descent toward the lunar surface, Hakuto-R estimated that it was very close to zero altitude when it was roughly 3 miles (5 kilometers) above the surface. As a result, the lander slowed itself down during its descent, eventually running out of fuel and free-falling onto the Moon. Hakuto-R M1 was carrying both commercial and government-owned payloads, including a tiny, two-wheeled transformable robot from the Japanese space agency. Members of the Japanese startup are optimistic about their second go at a Moon landing. 'We have leveraged the operational experience gained in Mission 1 and during this current voyage to the Moon, and we are confident in our preparations for success of the lunar landing,' Takeshi Hakamada, founder and CEO of ispace, said in a statement. The Moon has claimed a number of landers in the past few years as more commercial companies attempt to touch down on its rough surface. Texas-based startup Intuitive Machines crashed not one, but two landers, with both Nova-C and Athena ending up lying on their sides.
