Japanese lander carrying UAE’s Rashid rover loses contact with spacecraft before touchdown – News

ispace’s mission control center said engineers were working to confirm the lander’s current status

Pictures are for illustrative purposes only.

It was a somber time for the crew at the Tokyo Mission Control Center (MCC) ground station after being unable to re-establish communications with Japan’s lunar lander on Tuesday.

The seven-foot-tall Japanese lander Hakuto-R Mission 1 carried a tiny lunar rover weighing about 10 kilograms for the UAE, designed to roll in lunar dust.

In a statement, ispace later said its engineers and mission operations experts at the MCC were “currently working to confirm the current status of the lander.”

“Additional information on the status of the lander will be announced as it becomes available,” the statement said.

Meanwhile, people around the world, especially in the UAE, have tuned in to the live broadcast of the lander, waiting with bated breath, feeling the biting tension in the final moments before touchdown, the last phase of communication before the lander is lost.

The lander even changed its orientation to a vertical position as planned, pointing its thrusters directly at the lunar surface, signaling success was imminent.

All communications ceased as it descended the last 10 meters, just minutes away from the planned touchdown point, at a speed of about 25 km/h in what is commonly referred to as the “terminal descent phase”.

It was clearly a disappointing and difficult time for the Tokyo team awaiting news of the lander. They look serious and deadpan, as the uncertainty and lack of information seems difficult to deal with.

Takeshi Hakamada, founder and CEO of ispace, said: “Our engineers at MCC are continuing to investigate the current status of the lander, and after communication with the lander could not be restored, there was silence in the room. communication. We can confirm that we have established communication until the end of the landing. However, now we have lost contact. Therefore, we have to assume that we will not be able to complete the landing on the lunar surface. Our engineers will continue to investigate the situation once the investigation is completed , we will provide you with more information.”

If Hakuto-R Mission I lands, the company will become the first private enterprise to achieve a moon landing.

However, in words of encouragement, Hakamada stated that this mission is a step that will eventually become the starting point for new goals and success in the future.

“At this point, all I can say is that we’re very proud because we’ve accomplished a lot in this Mission I. We’ve secured communications right up to the end of the touchdown. That means we get the actual flight during the touchdown phase detail, which is a great achievement for future missions … Mission II and Mission III,” Hakamada said.

“For this, it is important to understand what we have learned from Mission I and Mission II and III. This is why we have built a sustainable business model to continue working on future missions. I would like to thank all the staff from the beginning until now have all contributed to this mission. I am grateful to our shareholders, partners and customers and everyone who believes in this vision. We will continue to move forward and never give up on the pursuit,” he added.

Meanwhile, as experts at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center (MBRSC) reiterated earlier, it is no secret that the moon landing only has a 50% success rate. Landing on the moon is considered a very challenging task for a number of reasons, including gravity, lack of atmosphere, regolith and communications. In particular, the lack of an atmosphere on the moon makes it difficult for the spacecraft to slow down during the descent, which usually ends in a forced landing. All of these factors make landing on the lunar surface a complex and daunting task.