NASA finds crash site of Japanese lander HAKUTO-R M1 on Moon

Late last year, ispace sent the HAKUTO-R M1 module to the Moon. Unfortunately, it crashed during landing. About a month later, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) found the crash site.

Here's What We Know

The HAKUTO-R M1 was a Japanese company's ispace landing module. It was due to land on the moon at the end of April. The spacecraft had been 80 metres above the surface for half an hour before landing. However, due to a lack of fuel, it crashed.

The payload was lost along with HAKUTO-R M1. The module was to carry a Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) robot, a Rashid rover and a battery from NGK Spark Plug Co.

NASA specialists discovered the crash site using the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). The orbiter took 10 pictures of the alleged landing site using narrow-angle cameras. The photos were published on May 23. They show four large pieces of debris and some minor surface changes.

Ispace has no plans to give up and is already working on a new spacecraft. A second mission is planned for 2024, while a third is planned for 2025. The Japanese startup hopes the new modules will be able to make a soft landing on the surface of the moon.

Source: space