China and Japan have spoken out to explain the mystery surrounding the loss of their spacecraft.
Japanese space travel company Ispace launched one Hakuto-R lander in December 2022 and will take the longest and most energy-efficient route to lunar orbit in March. Space will be the first private company to complete a moon landing if all goes well, as planned.
Ispace CEO Takeshi Hakamada at a press conference introducing Hakuto-R
Ispace’s ϹEO Takeshi Hakamada at a press conference introducing Hakuto-R at Tokyo 2018. (Photo: ĄFP).
But the company lost contact with Hakuto – CHEAP. Analysis shows that Hakuto-R is still in space instead of on the ground as expected. An investigation revealed why the ship appeared to have overestimated its altitude.
Ispace Founder and CEO Takeshi Hakamandɑ said: “There is a high probability that the lander made a hard landing on the surface of the Moon.”
The New York Times (USA) reported that Ispace clarified the information shortly after engineers observed that the fuel left in the Hakuto-R lander may have been “at a lower threshold and soon after, the landing speed increased rapidly.”
However, Mr. Hakamada said “very, very proud” on the results and “not disappointed” because the company can apply “Lessons learned” failure to improve the chances of success in the next two missions.
Only three countries have managed to send ships to the Moon: Russia, the United States and China.
Image of the Zhurong spacecraft on the surface of Mars in 2021.
Image of the Zhurong spacecraft on the surface of Mars in 2021. (Photo: CNN).
In another development, China this week explained the disappearance of the Zhurong probe on Mars. This vessel has not communicated since May 2022.
The chief designer of China’s Mars exploration program, Mr. Zhang Rongqiao, told China Central Television (CCTV) on April 25: “We have had no contact with the ship since it went into hibernation. We monitor the device daily and believe that it has not started because the sunlight has not reached the minimum required for power.”
The dust may have affected the Zhurong’s ability to charge solar power and thus prevent the ship from waking up after entering hibernation.
A NASA probe has located Zhurong and says she hasn’t moved since at least September 2022.
Mr. Zhang Rongqiao said the Zhurong spacecraft explored the surface of Mars for 358 days and moved 1,921m.
Article Source: Newspapers
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China and Japan have spoken out to explain the mystery surrounding the loss of their spacecraft.
