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| iSpace: First private moon landing likely to have failed | |
| (31 minutes later) | |
| Photos taken from the spacecraft over the weekend | |
| A Japanese company hoping to make history by carrying out the first private Moon landing says its mission is likely to have failed. | A Japanese company hoping to make history by carrying out the first private Moon landing says its mission is likely to have failed. |
| Communication was lost with the Hakuto-R lunar lander moments before it was due to touch down. | Communication was lost with the Hakuto-R lunar lander moments before it was due to touch down. |
| Engineers are investigating what happened. | Engineers are investigating what happened. |
| The Tokyo-based iSpace had hoped the lander would release an exploratory rover, as well as a tennis-ball-sized robot developed by a toymaker. | The Tokyo-based iSpace had hoped the lander would release an exploratory rover, as well as a tennis-ball-sized robot developed by a toymaker. |
| The craft was launched by a SpaceX rocket in December, and has taken five months to reach its destination. | The craft was launched by a SpaceX rocket in December, and has taken five months to reach its destination. |
| Those missions took only a few days to reach lunar orbit, but it took Hakuto-R five months. This was because it had a much less powerful propulsion system, in order to save fuel and reduce costs. | |
| "We have not confirmed communication with the lander," iSpace CEO Takeshi Hakamada said about 25 minutes after the planned landing. | |
| "We have to assume that we could not complete the landing on the lunar surface," he added. | |
| The M1 lander appeared set to touch down around 1640 GMT on Tuesday after coming as close as 295 feet (89 m) from the lunar surface, a live animation showed. | |
| The United States, Russia and China are the only countries to have managed to put a robot on the lunar surface, all through government-sponsored programmes. | The United States, Russia and China are the only countries to have managed to put a robot on the lunar surface, all through government-sponsored programmes. |
| The craft was launched by a SpaceX rocket in December | |
| Related Topics | Related Topics |
| Asia | Asia |
| Japan | Japan |
| The Moon | The Moon |