First private moon landing: Japanese firm ispace loses communication with lander

The first private landing on the moon ended in disappointment Tuesday as the Japanese company involved in the process said that it had lost communication with thelander. ispace attempted to achieve the historic feat withHakuto-R, which could have become the first privately operated spacecraft to land on the moon. The landing was scheduled for 12:40 pm EDT. The first-choice landing site is Atlas Crater, located at the southeastern outer edge of Mare Frigoris.

The company had alternate landing dates planned in case the lander wasn't able to land.

"Should conditions change, there are three alternative landing sites and depending on the site, the landing date may change. Alternative landing dates, depending on the operational status, are April 26, May 1 and May 3, 2023," ispace officials wrote a few days back.

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During the landing sequence, the lander was to perform a braking burn, firing its main propulsion system to decelerate from orbit, ispace said. The lander aimed for a soft landing on the lunar surface and the entire process will take approximately one hour.

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The Hakuto-R spacecraft was launched atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in December 2022. The spacecraft has sent several stunning images from the orbit.

One such image sent by Hakuto-R captured shows a stunning Earthrise during last week's hybrid solar eclipse. The photo shows the shadow of the moon as it moves across the face of the Earth in the South Pacific.

The mission was also carrying a mini Rashid rover for the United Arab Emirates' (UAE) space agency. On board was also an artificial intelligence system from Canadian company Mission Control and a multi-camera imaging system by Canadian company Canadensys Aerospace.

The United States, the Soviet Union and China are the only other countries to have soft-landed on the moon before.

(With inputs from agencies)

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