Japanese Moon Lander Crashes

A private moon landing attempt ended with the likely destruction of the lander. Japanese firm ispace said it lost contact with the Hakuto-R Mission 1 lander when it apparently ran out of propellant needed to slow the vehicle. “It apparently went into a freefall towards the surface as it was running out of fuel to fire up its thrusters,” Ryo Ujiie, the chief technology officer, told a news conference on Wednesday. The lander may have miscalculated its altitude before the crash.

The lander was launched by SpaceX in Florida four months ago and simulations based on telemetry suggest it got within about 300 feet of the landing site before contact was lost. The company hoped to deploy a couple of small rovers to the moon's surface and some experimental devices. The Japanese government wants the firm to "keep trying," according to spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno.