TOKYO, 25 Apr. Mission Control has not yet been able to confirm whether the Japanese Hakuto-R module has been successfully landed on the moon, according to a broadcast from Tokyo on the ispace YouTube channel.
«At the moment, we cannot confirm a successful landing on the lunar surface,» a spokesman for the center said. According to him, engineers are investigating the status of the module, but communication with it has not been restored.
«Perhaps we failed to land on the moon,» he said.
According to the center, the planned time of landing on the moon came at 1.40 April 26 Tokyo time (19.40 Moscow time April 25). However, there was no communication at the time, and the Mission Control Center is trying to find out if Hakuto-R successfully landed in Atlas Crater in the northeast quadrant on the visible side of the Moon.
As noted in ispace's Twitter post, Atlas Crater was selected as the primary lunar landing site because «it meets the technical specifications for demonstrating the technology of the module, the R&D objectives of the MBR Space Center mission, and the requirements of other client missions» . The module is to be the first part of the Hakuto-R lunar project, which is being run by the private company ispace.