ispace clarified the circumstances of the unsuccessful landing of Hakuto-R M2 on the Moon (3 photos)

The Hakuto-R M2 module made an unsuccessful landing on the lunar surface due to a combination of factors. This was reported by SpaceNews with reference to the Japanese company ispace.





The company attributes the module's hard landing to the circumstances encountered by the laser rangefinder. According to ispace, the device, designed to measure distance using a laser beam, was installed correctly, but its performance in lunar conditions was not as good as demonstrated by ground tests.



The company saw the reasons for the rangefinder's deterioration in conditions on the lunar surface, which reflected less light toward the module than experts had expected, the deterioration of the device's performance associated with high-speed movement during descent to the Earth's natural satellite, and the impact of the space environment, such as vacuum or radiation. "At present, we cannot further narrow down the range of possible causes," said ispace top manager Yoshitsugu Hitachi.



The landing was expected to look something like this

ispace Chief Technology Officer Ryo Ujii noted that in its next missions, the company is considering improving the ground testing program for the laser rangefinder or replacing it with another device.

Earlier, ispace reported that the Hakuto-R M2 failed to land on the lunar surface due to delays in receiving data from the laser rangefinder.

This was reported by the publication SpaceNews with reference to the Japanese company ispace.