Japanese lunar lander's grave discovered on the Moon

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has discovered debris from a private Japanese lander that failed to land on the Moon in April.

The landing site of the Hakuto-R station on the Moon. Photo: NASA

On April 26, LRO took 10 images around the Hakuto-R landing site with its Narrow Angle Camera (NAC), and scientists in charge of the project decided to search for the lost lander. The images, shared by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) team on May 23, showed at least four large pieces of debris and some minor changes on the lunar surface at 47.581 degrees north latitude and 44.094 degrees east longitude.

“There are some bright spots in the upper left corner and dark spots in the lower right corner. These are opposite the nearby boulders, suggesting a small crater or other parts of the lander’s body. This area will be analyzed in more detail in the coming months when LROC has the opportunity to re-image it under a variety of lighting conditions and viewing angles,” the team said.

The Hakuto-R lander, carrying a small rover from the United Arab Emirates, attempted to land on April 25, heading toward the Atlas crater. However, iSpace lost contact with the lander just minutes before the scheduled landing. The company later confirmed that the Hakuto-R lander could not land safely.

LRO has photographed the sites of previous failed landings, including Israel’s Beresheet spacecraft in 2019. If successful, Tokyo-based iSpace’s Hakuto-R would be the first private spacecraft to make a soft landing on the Moon. Despite the failure, they are looking to return to the Moon. The company is developing a second and third mission for 2024 and 2025, respectively.

Phuong Hoa (According to Space )

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