Another crash on the moon: the Japanese mission Hakuto-R M2 resilience in cold with its lasers
Placement on the moon is not an easy task. In recent years, it is thus on average one mission per year which failed to win the soil of our natural satellite healthy and sound. At the beginning of this month, the second landing of the Private Japanese company Ispace experienced a new failure, after that which occurred in 2023, by crashing violently. The company published this June 24 a report which details the reasons for this failure.
Hakuto-R M2 Resilience, probe designed by the private company ISPACE which participates in the Artemis program back on the Moon, carried out a “Hard landing” (A crash, therefore) on the moon, one more. A NASA probe, LRO for Lunar Recognition Orbit, even photographed which seems to be the consequences of the fire of the landing on the surface of Mare Frigoris (sea of cold in French).
The dark spot surrounded by a halo seems to be what remains of Hakuto-R M2 Resilience. © NASA/GSFC/ARIZONA State University
Until stage 8, everything had gone well … © Ispace
In its description of the events, the report indicates that then Hakuto-R M2 is starting his descent in a nominal way, almost vertically, the instrument responsible for telemetry (Laser Range Finder) “Has not been able to perform valid measurements”. These same altitude measures which would have made it possible to adjust the speed of the space machine.
Subsequent analyzes of telemetry data made it possible to highlight a “LRF equipment anomaly” And to exclude a failure from the propulsion system, the guidance software or the electrical network.
The report concludes on two hypotheses to explain this anomaly. The first would be a potential error during installation, assembly, manufacturing and/or tests, hence an abnormal attitude of the landing during its descent. The second hypothesis points to the deterioration of LRF performance during theft or performance below forecasts.
According to Ispace, this accident will not question the calendar of the following missions, M3 and M4, scheduled for 2027. Takeshi Hakamada, founder and CEO of Ispace, said that“Ispace will not let this incident become a setback. We will not stop there. As a determined pioneers of the Cislunaire economy, we will endeavor to regain the confidence of all the stakeholders and to start the next mission. Never abandon the lunar quest.”
Indeed, this second mission failure is not dramatic for Ispace, but it highlights the perilous exercise of the establishment. And again, it was not at the South Lunar Pole with a 50 m high machine and astronauts inside, as promises a certain Elon Musk…
