NASA's LRO views impact site of HAKUTO-R lunar lander

Moon News

NASA's LRO views impact site of HAKUTO-R lunar lander

Ratio image created by dividing the after (M1437131607R) and before (M192675639R) images. The impact created an area of higher reflectance, approximately 60-80 m across. The scale bar in the lower right is 50m across.

NASA's LRO views impact site of HAKUTO-R lunar lander
by Nancy Neal Jones for GSFC News
Greenbelt MD (SPX) May 24, 2023

The ispace HAKUTO-R Mission 1 lunar lander was launched on Dec. 11, 2022, a privately funded spacecraft planned to land on the lunar surface. After a several-month journey to the Moon, the spacecraft started a controlled descent to the surface to land near Atlas crater. The ispace team announced the following day that an anomaly occurred, and the HAKUTO-R Mission 1 lunar lander had not safely touched down on the surface.

On April 26, 2023, NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft acquired 10 images around the landing site with its Narrow Angle Cameras. The images covered a region roughly 40 km by 45 km (about 25 miles by 28 miles). Using an image acquired before the landing attempt, the LRO Camera science team began searching for the lander.

From the temporal image pair, the LRO Camera team identified an unusual surface change near the nominal landing site. The image shows at least four prominent pieces of debris and several small changes (47.581 degrees North latitude, 44.094 degrees East longitude). The central feature in the image above shows several bright pixels in the upper left and several dark pixels in the lower right. This is the opposite of nearby boulders, suggesting that this could be a small crater or different parts of the lander body. This site will be further analyzed over the coming months as LRO has the opportunity to make additional observations of the site under various lighting conditions and viewing angles.

Related Links
Hakuto-R Mission 1
Mars News and Information at MarsDaily.com
Lunar Dreams and more

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters

RELATED CONTENT

The following news reports may link to other Space Media Network websites.

NASA selects Blue Origin as 2nd Artemis Lunar Lander Provider
Washington DC (SPX) May 19, 2023
To develop a human landing system for the agency's Artemis V mission to the Moon, NASA has selected Blue Origin of Kent, Washington. Through Artemis, NASA will explore more of the Moon than ever before, uncovering more scientific discoveries, and preparing for future astronaut missions to Mars. Blue Origin will design, develop, test, and verify its Blue Moon lander to meet NASA's human landing system requirements for recurring astronaut expeditions to the lunar surface, including docking with Gate ... read more

Hitting the road after three weeks at Ubajara: Sols 3839-3840

MAHLI works the night shift: Sols 3837-3838

Ancient northern ocean on Mars evidenced by in situ observations of marine sedimentary rocks

A deep underground lab could hold key to habitability on Mars

New study puts a definitive age on Saturn's rings-they're really young

Saturn's rings much younger than planet itself, new study says

Hubble finds Saturn's rings heating its atmosphere

First observation of a Polar Cyclone on Uranus

Research 'solves' mystery of Jupiter's stunning colour changes

NASA's Juno mission closing in on Io

Pioneer 11, launched 50 years ago, helped solve mysteries of the universe

ASPINA Launches Space Team

Space Hero and Partners Launch Innovative Space Village, Boosting Space Tourism

Solar Foods one of the Phase II winners of NASA Deep Space Food Challenge

Virgin Galactic resumes spaceflights after two year pause

Single-molecule valve: a breakthrough in nanoscale control

Rocket Lab scoops up Virgin Orbit Long Beach California assets

NASA continues key test series with rocket engine hot fire

South Korea launches homegrown rocket after delay

Rocket Lab launches second batch of TROPICS satellites for NASA

Shenzhou XVI mission to launch in days

China's next space exploration to feature new faces

"Tianzhou Express" is online again, with five highlights

Tianzhou 6 docks with Tiangong space station

Powerful Arab League communications satellite ready for night launch

TransAstra receives Space Force contract to explore in-orbit propulsion systems

Heinrich Hertz mission ready for launch

Team uses 3D printing to strengthen key material in aerospace and energy utilities

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.