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Japanese scientists had lost contact

Failed the moon landing, Hakuto-R "crashed" on the Moon: the last images of the descent

The lander just over two meters high, weighing 340 kilos, had been in lunar orbit since last month. Departing from Earth in December, aboard one of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rockets, the spacecraft would have stumbled into a "hard landing"

26/04/2023

The crash on the lunar soil is the most plausible hypothesis, but it is still too early to explain the failed Hakuto-R moon landing. The Japanese lander had started its descent on 25/4 around 16.40 Italian time: it was supposed to slow its orbit to about 100 kilometers above the Moon, adjust speed and altitude and complete the landing in an hour. Probably, too rapid a descent led to disaster. The spacecraft would have shattered on impact with the lunar soil.

Yet the images of the descent to the Moon had made us dream. Then the news that froze the Japanese: "We have lost contact". After a short time there was already a smell of burning: "We do not expect to complete the landing", read a note from the company signed by the CEO and founder Takeshi Hakamada. Six hours later, the news was released that closed the mission.

Above two meters, weighing 340kilograms i, Hakuto-R andra in lunar orbit since last month. He had left the Earth, five months ago, aboard one of the powerful Falcon 9 rockets of SpaceX, the US company of Elon Musk. The spacecraft would have stumbled into a "hard landing" just as it descended from lunar orbit and pushed in the direction of the dusty surface.

Ispace, however, does not give up. It burns to have come close and failed to place a robot on the lunar surface, just as the United States, Russia and China have already done. It wears out to have lost the title of the first private company to reach the Moon. "We believe we have fully realized the significance of this mission and have gained a wealth of data and experience." They will try again.