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Following Tuesday’s failed attempt to land on the surface of the Moon, Japan’s ispace said its lunar lander may have unexpectedly accelerated on its way down before crashing on the lunar surface.Astronomers Could Soon Get Warnings When SpaceX Satellites Threaten Their ViewThe Hakuto-R Mission 1 lander (M1) was scheduled to touchdown on the Moon on April 25 at 12:40 p.m. ET. “Shortly after the scheduled landing time, no data was received indicating a touchdown,” ispace wrote in a statement. “ispace engineers monitored the…

Tokyo-based company ispace is hoping to make history on Tuesday by landing the first private mission to the Moon’s surface and deliver its many payloads.Astronomers Could Soon Get Warnings When SpaceX Satellites Threaten Their ViewThe Hakuto-R Mission 1 (M1) lander will attempt to land on the Moon on April 25 at 12:40 p.m. ET. The celestial landing will be aired live through ispace’s YouTube channel, and you can also tune in to the nail-biting action through the feed below. The live feed is scheduled to begin at around…

A Japanese mission to the Moon seeksto be the first private venture to successfully land on the lunar surface. But before it attempts to touchdown on its dusty surface, the Hakuto-R lunar lander is treating us to some sweet new views of our natural satellite.On Monday, Tokyo-based company ispace shared its lander’s view of the Moon, which it captured after it entered lunar orbit last week. The image reveals a close-up of the Moon, showing its cratered surface glimmering in the dark depths of space.The Hakuto-R mission…

An artist’s depiction of the Hakuto-R lander on the Moon.Illustration: ispaceThe Hakuto-R spacecraft won’t land on the Moon until April, but the private mission is already in the record books. Tokyo-based company ispace developed the lunar spacecraft and lander with the aim of becoming the first private mission to successfully land on the Moon. During its long journey to the Moon, Hakuto-R got as far as 855,000 miles (1.376 million kilometers) away from Earth on January 20. That distance made the Japanese lunar spacecraft…

The lunar lander snapped this image on its way to the Moon.Image: Canadensys Aerospace CorporationThe tiny Hakuto-R lunar spacecraft and lander is currently en route to the Moon, but it managed to capture this stellar view of Earth, in what is an encouraging start to the private Japanese mission. Tokyo-based company ispace’s Hakuto-R spacecraft snapped its first images since launching on Sunday, showing first signs of life during a journey that’s set to take about four months.The lander launched on board a SpaceX Falcon 9…

SpaceX launched its latest payload on board a Falcon 9 rocket. Photo: SpaceXSpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket launched a highly anticipated payload on Sunday, which included ispace’s Hakuto-R spacecraft and NASA’s Lunar Flashlight. The rocket lifted off at 2:38 a.m. ETon December 11 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The launch was delayed twice before the rocket finally made it off the launch pad, delivering a precious payload on a journey towards the Moon.Packed inside the Falcon 9 rocket was a private…

A Falcon 9 rocket during launch this past July. Photo: SpaceXSouth Korea is embarking on its first lunar mission,and SpaceX has been brought in to help. You can catch this historic launch live right here.Hard to believe, but the upcoming launch marks the first time that SpaceX will directly send a payload to a ballistic lunar transfer orbit. And as for South Korea, this marks its first mission to the Moon, adding itself (fingers crossed) to a very small list of nations to do so. The payload du jour is the Korea…