A Japanese spacecraft Hakuto-R stopped having contact with the control center that guided and followed it from Earth and the flight controllers that accompanied the path were left without any communication, presuming that it had crashed.
The company Ispace, responsible for the project, today issued a statement in which it indicated that, “so far, the Hakuto-R mission control center in Nihonbashi (Tokyo) has not been able to confirm the success of the Lunar Lander”, the spacecraft that would explore the satellite.
The mission should have arrived at its destination at 16:41 GMT (15:41 in Lisbon), according to the countdown, which could be seen in the live transmission that the Japanese company made of the beginning of the landing process.
The spacecraft began its descent today from an altitude of 100 kilometers above the Moon and was scheduled to land in Atlas, an 87-kilometer crater in the lunar northern hemisphere, and it was already during the landing process that contact was lost.
“We have to assume that we failed to complete the landing on the lunar surface,” said Takeshi Hakamada, founder and chief executive of Ispace.
If the spacecraft had landed, the company would be responsible for the first private project to successfully carry out a lunar landing.
Only three state projects — from Russia, the United States and China — have so far successfully landed on the moon.
An Israeli nonprofit tried to do so in 2019, but the spacecraft was destroyed on impact.
Founded in 2010, Ispace defines itself as a “global” company whose vision is to “expand the planet” and “expand the future” based on concrete actions such as offering transport services between the Earth and the Moon.
The company has offices in Japan, Luxembourg and the United States, and develops joint projects with NASA and the European Space Agency.
Also Read: Conspiracyists Wanted to Destroy 5G Towers, Claims British Court
Always be the first to know.
Seventh consecutive year Consumer Choice for Online Press.
Download our free App.
