Latest news with #moonmission
BreakingNews.ie
4 hours ago
- Business
- BreakingNews.ie
Japanese lunar lander crashes while attempting touchdown on the Moon
A private lunar lander from Japan crashed while attempting a touchdown on Friday, the latest casualty in the commercial rush to the Moon. Tokyo-based company ispace declared the mission a failure several hours after communication was lost with the lander. Advertisement Flight controllers scrambled to gain contact, but were met with only silence and said they were concluding the mission. Communications ceased less than two minutes before the spacecraft's scheduled landing on the Moon with a mini rover. Until then, the descent from lunar orbit seemed to be going well. People await the update on the private lunar lander's attempt to touch down on the Moon (Kyodo News via AP/PA) Takeshi Hakamada, ispace chief executive officer and founder, apologised to everyone who contributed to the mission, the second lunar strikeout for the company. Two years ago, the company's first moonshot ended in a crash landing, giving rise to the name Resilience for its successor lander. Advertisement Resilience carried a rover with a shovel to gather lunar dirt as well as a Swedish artist's toy-size red house for placement on the Moon's dusty surface. Company officials said it was too soon to know whether the same problem doomed both missions. 'This is the second time that we were not able to land. So we really have to take it very seriously,' Mr Hakamada told reporters. He stressed the company would press ahead with more lunar missions. A preliminary analysis indicates the laser system for measuring the altitude did not work as planned and the lander descended too fast, officials said. Advertisement 'Based on these circumstances, it is currently assumed that the lander likely performed a hard landing on the lunar surface,' the company said in a written statement. Long the province of governments, the Moon became a target of private outfits in 2019, with more flops than successes along the way. Takeshi Hakamada apologised for the mission's failure (Kyodo News via AP/PA) Launched in January from Florida on a long, roundabout journey, Resilience entered lunar orbit last month. 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. Advertisement 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 south pole and was declared dead within hours. Resilience was targeting the top of the Moon, a less treacherous 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. Plans had called for the 7.5ft Resilience to beam back pictures within hours and for the lander to lower the piggybacking rover onto the lunar surface this weekend. Advertisement Made of carbon fibre-reinforced plastic with four wheels, ispace's European-built rover — named Tenacious — sported a high-definition camera to scout out the area and a shovel to scoop up some lunar dirt for Nasa. The rover was going to stick close to the lander, going in circles at a speed of less than one inch per second.
The Independent
10 hours ago
- Business
- The Independent
Private Japanese lunar lander crashes while attempting Moon touchdown
A private lunar lander from Japan crashed while attempting a touchdown Friday, the latest casualty in the commercial rush to the moon. The Tokyo-based company ispace declared the mission a failure several hours after communication was lost with the lander. Flight controllers scrambled to gain contact, but were met with only silence and said they were concluding the mission. Communications ceased less than two minutes before the spacecraft's scheduled landing on the moon with a mini rover. Until then, the descent from lunar orbit seemed to be going well. CEO and founder Takeshi Hakamada apologised to everyone who contributed to the mission, the second lunar strikeout for ispace. Two years ago, the company's first moonshot ended in a crash landing, giving rise to the name 'Resilience' for its successor lander. Resilience carried a rover with a shovel to gather lunar dirt as well as a Swedish artist's toy-size red house for placement on the moon's dusty surface. Company officials said it was too soon to know whether the same problem doomed both missions. A preliminary analysis indicates the laser system for measuring the altitude did not work as planned, and the lander descended too fast, officials said. 'Based on these circumstances, it is currently assumed that the lander likely performed a hard landing on the lunar surface,' the company said in a written statement. 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. 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 was targeting the top of the moon, a less treacherous 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. Plans had called for the 7.5-ft (2.3m) Resilience to beam back pictures within hours and for the lander to lower the piggybacking rover onto the lunar surface this weekend. Made of carbon fibre-reinforced plastic with four wheels, ispace's European-built rover – named Tenacious – sported a high-definition camera to scout out the area and a shovel to scoop up some lunar dirt for NASA. The rover, weighing just 5kg, was going to stick close to the lander, going in circles at a speed of less than a couple centimetres per second. It was capable of venturing up to two-thirds of a kilometre from the lander and should be operational throughout the two-week mission, the period of daylight. Besides science and tech experiments, there was an artistic touch. The rover held 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. Minutes before the attempted landing, Mr Hakamada assured everyone that ispace had learned from its first failed mission. 'Engineers did everything they possibly could' to ensure success this time, he said. He considered the latest moonshot 'merely a steppingstone' to its bigger lander launching by 2027 with NASA involvement. Ispace, like other businesses, does not have 'infinite funds' and cannot afford repeated failures, Jeremy Fix, chief engineer for ispace's US subsidiary, said at a conference last month. While not divulging the cost of the current mission, company officials said it's less than the first one which exceeded $100m. Two other US companies are aiming for moon landings by year's end: Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin and Astrobotic Technology. Astrobotic's first lunar lander missed the moon altogether in 2024 and came crashing back through Earth's atmosphere. For decades, governments competed to get to the moon. Only five countries have pulled off successful robotic lunar landings: Russia, the US, China, India and Japan. Of those, only the US has landed people on the moon: 12 NASA astronauts from 1969 through 1972.
Al Jazeera
12 hours ago
- Business
- Al Jazeera
Japanese firm declares lunar mission a failure after crash landing
A Japanese-made private lunar lander has crashed while attempting to touch down on the moon, with its makers officially declaring the mission a failure. Tokyo-based company ispace said on Friday that its lander, named Resilience, dropped out of lunar orbit as planned and that the mission appeared to be going well. But flight controllers lost contact with Resilience, which was carrying a mini rover, moments before its scheduled touchdown on the surface of the moon following an hourlong descent. Ground support was met with silence as they attempted to regain contact with the lander and after several hours declared the mission a failure. The company's livestream of the attempted landing then came to an abrupt end. 'We have to take seriously what happened,' ispace CEO and founder Takeshi Hakamada said after the failed mission, as he apologised to everyone who contributed. This is the firm's second failed attempt to soft land on the lunar surface, coming two years after the Japanese start-up's first attempt to reach the moon ended in a crash landing. Launched in December 2022, the firm's Hakuto-R Mission 1 reached lunar orbit but crashed during its final descent after an error caused the lander to believe it was lower than it actually was. That mission's successor, Resilience, was launched in January from Florida on a long, roundabout journey. It shared a ride on a SpaceX rocket with Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost, which, upon reaching the moon first in March this year, made the US firm the first private entity to make a 'fully successful' soft landing there. The 2.3-metre (7.5-foot) Resilience lander was targeting the top of the moon, where the ispace team had chosen a flat area with few boulders in Mare Frigoris, or Sea of Cold, to land. Resilience was expected to beam back pictures within hours of landing, before ispace's European-built rover – named Tenacious – would have been lowered onto the lunar surface this weekend. The rover, made of carbon fibre-reinforced plastic and sporting a high-definition camera, would then have scouted out the area and scooped up lunar dirt for NASA. Resilience was also carrying a toy-sized red house created by Swedish artist Mikael Genberg. Moonhouse, as the model Swedish-style cottage was called, was intended to be the moon's first 'building', in a nod to Hakamada's vision of humans living and working there as early as the 2040s. But ispace's now second failed landing has left the Japanese entrepreneur's vision in doubt. The aerospace company's next, much bigger lander is scheduled to launch by 2027 with NASA's involvement. Prior to Friday's failed mission, the Japanese firm's chief financial officer, Jumpei Nozaki, promised to continue its lunar quest regardless of the outcome. But Jeremy Fix, chief engineer for ispace's US subsidiary, said at a conference last month that the firm does not have 'infinite funds' and cannot afford repeated failures. Company officials said this latest failed mission cost less than the first one – which exceeded $100m – but declined to provide an exact figure.
CBC
12 hours ago
- Business
- CBC
Japanese lunar lander crashes during attempted touchdown
Social Sharing A private lunar lander from Japan crashed while attempting a touchdown Friday, the latest casualty in the commercial rush to the moon. The Tokyo-based company ispace declared the mission a failure several hours after communication was lost with the lander. Flight controllers scrambled to regain contact, but were met with only silence and said they were concluding the mission. Communications ceased less than two minutes before the spacecraft's scheduled landing on the moon with a mini-rover. Until then, the descent from lunar orbit seemed to be going well. CEO and founder Takeshi Hakamada apologized to everyone who contributed to the mission, the second lunar strikeout for ispace. Two years ago, the company's first moonshot also ended in a crash landing, giving rise to the name "Resilience" for its successor lander. "This is the second time that we were not able to land. So we really have to take it very seriously," Hakamada told reporters. He stressed that the company would press ahead with more lunar missions. Possible problem with laser system Preliminary analysis indicates the laser system for measuring the altitude did not work as planned, and the lander descended too fast, officials said. "Based on these circumstances, it is currently assumed that the lander likely performed a hard landing on the lunar surface," the company said in a written statement. 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. 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 U.S. 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 was targeting the top of the moon, a less treacherous 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. Engineers 'did everything' possible Plans had called for the 2.3-metre Resilience to beam back pictures within hours and for the lander to lower the piggybacking rover onto the lunar surface this weekend. Made of carbon fibre-reinforced plastic with four wheels, ispace's European-built rover — named Tenacious — sported 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, was going to stick close to the lander, going in circles at a speed of less than a few centimetres per second. It was capable of venturing up to one kilometre from the lander. Minutes before the attempted landing, Hakamada assured everyone that ispace had learned from its first failed mission. "Engineers did everything they possibly could" to ensure success this time, he said. He considered the latest moonshot "merely a steppingstone" to its bigger lander launching by 2027 with NASA involvement. Ispace, like other businesses, does not have "infinite funds" and cannot afford repeated failures, Jeremy Fix, chief engineer for the company's U.S. subsidiary, said at a conference last month. While not divulging the cost of this latest mission, company officials said it's less than the first one which exceeded $100 million US. Two other U.S. companies are aiming for moon landings by year's end: Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin and Astrobotic Technology. Astrobotic's first lunar lander missed the moon altogether in 2024 and came crashing back through Earth's atmosphere. For decades, governments competed to get to the moon. Only five countries have pulled off successful robotic lunar landings: Russia, the U.S., China, India and Japan. Of those, only the U.S. has landed people on the moon: 12 NASA astronauts from 1969 through 1972. NASA expects to send four astronauts around the moon next year. That would be followed a year or more later by the first lunar landing by a crew in more than a half-century, with SpaceX's Starship providing the lift from lunar orbit all the way down to the surface. China also has moon landing plans for its own astronauts by 2030.
South China Morning Post
13 hours ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Boss of Japan's ispace apologises after moon landing mission fails again
A private lunar lander from Japan apparently crashed while attempting a touchdown on Friday, the latest casualty in the commercial rush to the moon. The Tokyo-based company ispace confirmed the mission as a failure several hours after communication was lost with the lander. Flight controllers scrambled to gain contact, but were met with only silence and said they were concluding the mission. Communications ceased less than two minutes before the spacecraft's scheduled landing on the moon with a mini rover. Until then, the descent from lunar orbit seemed to be going well. CEO and founder Takeshi Hakamada said he was sorry and apologised to everyone who contributed to the mission, the second lunar strikeout for ispace. Two years ago, the company's first moon shot ended in a crash landing, giving rise to the name Resilience for its successor lander. Resilience carried a rover with a shovel to gather lunar dirt as well as a Swedish artist's toy-size red house for placement on the moon's dusty surface. Company officials said it was too soon to know whether the same problem doomed both missions.
