Private Japanese Lander Crashes Into the Moon in Second Failed Attempt

A private Japanese spacecraft crashed into the Moon while attempting the country’s first commercial lunar landing on Thursday, June 5, the company has confirmed. This is the second failed moon mission for Tokyo-based ispace, which launched the Resilience lander aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket in January. ispace lost communication with Resilience less than two minutes before its scheduled landing on the Moon, the Associated Press reports. In a statement released this morning, the company explained that the spacecraft’s descent initially went smoothly. But once it reached an altitude of roughly 12 miles (20 kilometers) above the lunar surface, mission control lost telemetry with the lander. After trying and failing to regain contact, ispace concluded that Resilience had most likely crash landed on the lunar surface, ending the mission. “Given that there is currently no prospect of a successful lunar landing, our top priority is to swiftly analyze the telemetry data we have obtained thu ... Read full article.