The Japanese private firm ispace's HAKUTO-R Mission 2 (M2) likely crashed during its lunar landing attempt, marking the second failure for the company after its Mission 1 (M1) in April 2023. Communication with M2 was lost while it descended faster than anticipated from 192 meters above the Moon's surface. Experts believe that the failure stemmed from unaddressed systems issues. Despite the setback, there are indications that adjustments could pave the way for success in future missions.
"When M1 crashed, Ryo Ujiie, ispace's chief technology officer said the telemetry estimated that M1 was on the surface when it wasn't, causing the lander to free fall."
"It's something that I believe will definitely be fixable, because getting that close means there's a few tweaks that are going to be needed for the next one," adds Clive Neal.
Collection
[
|
...
]