Tokyo company loses contact with Moon lander, fate unknown

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

A Japanese company tried to land its own spacecraft on the Moon early Wednesday, but its fate was unknown as flight controllers lost contact with it moments before the planned touchdown.

Controllers peered at their screens in Tokyo, expressionless, as the minutes went by with still no word from the lander.

A webcast commentator urged everyone to be patient, as the controllers investigated what might have happened. Contact was lost as the lander descended the final 10 metrer, traveling around 25 kph).

"Everyone, please give us a few minutes to confirm,” he urged.

If successful, the company ispace would be the first private business to pull off a lunar landing.

"ispace has updated that they have lost communication with the HAKUTO-R lander and have not been able to confirm a successful landing. Their engineers are continuing to investigate the situation and will update once they finish investigation," tweeted Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre.

EARLIER: The explorer Rashid Rover is set to lands on the surface of the moon at 8:40 pm today, Tuesday, Emirates time.

The UAE, after the success of the landing operation, will became the fourth country to land on the surface of the moon, after the former Soviet Union, USA and China.

Rashid is expected to land on the near side of the moon, in a location known as "Atlas Crater."

To follow the landing process, you can do so via the live broadcast link, as follows:

Emirati astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi, who is on a 6-month mission to ISS, said, “Tomorrow, we eagerly anticipate the landing of #RashidRover on the Moon, as part of the first Emirati and Arab lunar mission  While the success rate for such missions has not exceeded 50%, we are confident in our team at MBRSC. I wish them all the best for this historic voyage”

At the hands of 100% Emirati experts and engineers, and the explorer Rashid seeks to capture high-resolution images and collect scientific data and information, which is being explored for the first time, and success lies in overcoming the risks and landing on the moon.

Lunar orbit

In mid-April, the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center announced that the lander "Hakuto-R", carrying the explorer Rashid, had successfully completed the planned maneuvers in the lunar orbit, with a date set for the vehicle's landing on the moon's surface in an unexplored area.

Rashid will provide data that is the first of its kind, noting that during the descent, the vehicle will reduce its speed and automatically adjust its position to successfully reach the surface of the moon, with the implementation of several maneuvers to control the orbit, in order to reach a circular orbit of 100 km around the moon, before the landing sequence begins.

During the descent sequence, the explorer's main propulsion system will be launched to decelerate from orbit using a series of predetermined commands.
The explorer will also adjust its position and reduce its speed to make a soft landing in the "Mare Frigoris" area, specifically the "Atlas Crater" area, a major landing site.

The date for the landing of the explorer, Rashid, was set today at 8:40 pm (UAE time), and the date is subject to change in the event of any changes in operating conditions.

There will be alternative locations and dates, including April 26th and the first and third of May.

Rashid Rover is currently orbiting the moon at an altitude of about 100 km from the lunar perihelion, and approximately 2,300 km from the aphelion orbit.

The closest point in the orbit to the moon is known as the “perigee”, while the farthest point in the orbit to the moon is called the “apogee.”

At about 7:40 pm today, the lander carrying the explorer Rashid will carry out several maneuvers to control the orbit. In order to reach a 100-kilometer circular orbit around the Moon, before the start of the landing sequence, and during the landing sequence, the explorer's main propulsion system will be launched to decelerate from orbit using a series of predetermined commands. The explorer will also adjust its position and reduce its speed to make a soft landing in the Mare Frigoris, and specifically the "Atlas Crater" area as a major landing site.

The Emirates Lunar Exploration Project team will also conduct 370 minutes of communication with explorer Rashid before landing, in addition to conducting 12 preparatory operations covering scenarios of the explorer's operations on the moon.

The preparatory operations will help the mission team prepare for the operations that will take place after the landing on the moon.

Landing process

The process of landing and operating the Rashid once the Japanese Hakuto-R landing vehicle arrives takes about 4 hours, followed by the completion of the post-landing inspection process, the operation of the equipment and the start of collecting initial data.

Earth well, via the European space tracking network ESTRACK, where communication checks are part of the operation of the equipment.

Meanwhile, the explorer Rashid sends signals that allow the engineers at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center the ability to determine the extent to which the main landing and landing steps have been completed, so that they can ensure that the explorer is ready to start its operation, and the stage of landing and operating the explorer comes in the fourth stage, among 7 stages.

The Rashid Rover passes through it, aboard the "Hakuto-R" lander, during his journey from Earth to the surface of the moon in 140 days of navigation.

Augmented reality

The Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center, in cooperation with Atlantic Productions, launched the Rashid Rover: Mission on the Moon" experience, which is an experience using augmented reality technology, giving users the opportunity to join and interact with the explorer Rashid's mission on the moon from anywhere, and inspire students about space in their classrooms, where the idea of the experience came to celebrate the mission of explorer Rashid on the surface of the moon, and this educational and interactive experience (available for all phones, whether Android or iPhone), is designed to increase interest in space, science and technology among audiences of all ages, and users will be able to experience this experience in both languages English and Arabic on smartphones all over the world for free.

Scientific goals

The Explorer Rashid operation aims to achieve the goals of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center related to the Mars 2117 program, as the center identified a set of scientific goals for the explorer Rashid, including basic sciences, including geology, represented in the characteristics of the lunar surface soil and the transformation process, the Earth and Moon system, plasma environment sciences and soil interaction.

It includes photovoltaic, surface charges, and dust particle transport, as well as engineering sciences, technology hardware materials, and on-site materials testing in preparation for future missions, Navigation on the lunar surface, as well as mission operations and planning.

The explorer is called “Rashid”, after the late Sheikh Rashid Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the former ruler of the Emirate of Dubai, and the builder of the modern renaissance of Dubai.

The explorer was designed and developed by Emirati engineers from the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center team, to conduct numerous scientific tests on the surface of the moon.

The Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center team of 12 engineers and experts participated together to achieve this historic achievement, which only a few could accomplish.