Moon Lander of Japan Experiences Another Crash in Second Failed Mission: Spaceship's Radio Signals Fade Away Moments Before Touchdown
🔥️ Attempted Moon Landing Crashes 🔥️
In a devastating setback, a Japanese spacecraft aiming for the moon has smashed into the lunar surface. The unfortunate incident involves the private Japanese astro firm ispace's second attempt at a moon landing, dubbed Resilience moon lander.
Frustratingly reminiscent of their first attempt in 2023, this latest failure marks another disappointing chapter for the ambitious celestial explorers. CEO and founder Takeshi Hakamada admitted the gravity of the situation, stating, "This is the second time that we were not able to land. So we really have to take it very seriously."
The 16-million-dollar payload, consisting of a four-wheeled rover and other technological gear, experienced difficulties measuring its distance from the moon. Consequently, it careened into the surface at excessive speed.
If successful, the plan was to deploy the rover for a two-week exploration spree across the lunar surface, including the collection of moon dust. Although shareholders may panic after witnessing this monumental blunder, CFO Jumpei Nozaki insists the company is not immediately facing financial crises.
With setbacks come lessons learned, and ispace will have to regroup and prepare for future attempts at a lunar landing, which may not happen for several years.
Despite the current setbacks, Japan has boasted successful "soft landings" in the past. For instance, the government-run Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) managed to softly guide down its SLIM lander last year, joining an elite list of countries that include the former Soviet Union, the United States, China, and India.
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba remains optimistic, expressing his faith in ispace's abilities, stating, "Expectations for ispace have not faded." Japan has also signed an agreement with NASA to include Japanese astronauts in its Artemis lunar missions and is actively supporting private companies pursuing moon exploration as a lucrative business opportunity.
Enrichment Info:
- ispace aims to establish a significant human presence on the moon by 2040 and build a city capable of accommodating a thousand residents and multiple tourists.
- Upcoming missions include the Apex 1.0 lander in 2026, with plans for two missions in 2027 (Missions 3 and 4) using the Apex 1.0 lander to increase lunar landings and rover deployment.
- The failures have not dampened enthusiasm in the lunar exploration race, which involves private companies like ispace, as well as state-run lunar missions from China and India.
In the face of this setback, ispace, a Japanese astronomy firm, will need to analyze the reasons behind the crash of their Resilience moon lander and learn from the experience. Despite the failure, Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba remains supportive of ispace's ambitious goal of establishing a lunar city by 2040, and space-and-astronomy news enthusiasts continue to follow the company's advancements in technology and science, particularly their upcoming missions in the areas of space-and-astronomy and general-news.
