The Japanese private space company has announced one of the remarkable legacies of the Hakuto-R Mission 1 spacecraft, which is believed to have crashed into the Moon.
In a photo captured by the Hakuto-R, Earth appears to be rising from the Moon, looking somewhat unusual. Upon closer inspection, a large dark spot is visible over Australia, standing out against the vibrant blue of the planet during the daytime.
According to Live Science, this special moment was recorded just days before the spacecraft’s “demise,” coinciding with a total solar eclipse on April 21.
A special photo from the unfortunate spacecraft – (Image: ISPACE).
On that day, the shadow of the solar eclipse moved across the nearby Southern Ocean, diagonally crossing the map through Australia and Indonesia. Many countries and territories, including Vietnam, witnessed a partial solar eclipse, while regions in the central part of Australia or Indonesia could observe a total or annular eclipse.
This spacecraft is a lander, and Ispace had hoped it would be the first private “footprint” on the Moon. However, it lost signal on the scheduled landing day, April 26, and in a subsequent press conference, Ispace indicated that the spacecraft likely crashed directly into the Moon.
In the latest statement, Ispace’s founder and CEO, Takeshi Hakamada, mentioned that analyses suggest the spacecraft might have unexpectedly run out of propulsion fuel during its landing attempt.
The spacecraft was intended to land on the Moon vertically, with landing legs gradually descending to the surface using thrusters to counteract gravity, slowing down the landing.
However, if it ran out of fuel, the thrusters would be unable to function, and it could fall almost freely to the surface. Although the Moon’s gravity is only about 1/6th that of Earth, a “hard” landing could potentially cause the spacecraft to break apart.
A similar incident occurred in 2019 with the Beresheet spacecraft from SpaceIL and the Israel Aerospace Industries. To date, only the United States, Russia, and China have successfully landed spacecraft on the Moon, all under government space agencies.
Despite the crash, Ispace assures that their first Hakuto-R has still provided valuable data that will aid in the preparation for Missions 2 and 3 that they are currently developing.
