NASA caught private moon lander crash on camera
NASA couldn't help but do a little rubbernecking of the recent crash site where a private Japanese company recently attempted to land on the moon.
The Hakuto-R mission ended abruptly on April 25, 2023, shortly after ispace lost contact with its spacecraft as it descended toward the lunar surface. An investigation indicated that onboard software underestimated the lander's altitude. It eventually ran out of fuel during its descent and free-fell to the surface. Fuel is necessary for landing on the moon because a spacecraft must fire its thrusters to slow down before reaching the ground.
Flying overhead, NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter captured 10 images of the proposed landing site near the Atlas Crater that show four prominent pieces of debris and several small changes to the surface. Those features could be a small crater or parts of the lander that have scattered. The U.S. space agency intends to snap more pictures over the coming months to get a better look with different lighting conditions and angles.
NASA couldn't help but do a little rubbernecking of the recent crash site where a private Japanese company recently attempted to land on the moon.
The Hakuto-R mission ended abruptly on April 25, 2023, shortly after ispace lost contact with its spacecraft as it descended toward the lunar surface. An investigation indicated that onboard software underestimated the lander's altitude. It eventually ran out of fuel during its descent and free-fell to the surface. Fuel is necessary for landing on the moon because a spacecraft must fire its thrusters to slow down before reaching the ground.
Flying overhead, NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter captured 10 images of the proposed landing site near the Atlas Crater that show four prominent pieces of debris and several small changes to the surface. Those features could be a small crater or parts of the lander that have scattered. The U.S. space agency intends to snap more pictures over the coming months to get a better look with different lighting conditions and angles.
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Summary
NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter captured images of the crash site of a private Japanese moon lander, Hakuto-R, which ended in an abrupt failure on April 25, 2023. The mission concluded due to software malfunction that underestimated altitude, causing fuel exhaustion during descent. The images