Japanese private company ispace announced another unsuccessful attempt to land its unmanned Resilience module on the surface of the Moon. This is reported by UNN referring to Reuters.
Details
Resilience failed to slow down as it approached the surface due to a malfunction of the sensors that measured the distance to the Moon. The module crashed in the Mare Frigoris area (Sea of Cold, a lunar sea located north of the Sea of Rains), and communication with it was lost a few minutes before the planned landing.
Resilience carried on board the Tenacious experimental rover and instruments worth a total of $16 million from Japanese companies and the Taiwanese University, designed to study regolith samples and experiment with resource extraction.
All attempts to establish communication with the module after the alleged hard landing were unsuccessful.
Recall
As UNN reported, the Resilience module launched from Cape Canaveral on a SpaceX rocket. Resilience arrived in lunar orbit in early May.