Ispaces Resilience Lunar Lander Crashes in Mare Frigoris: Challenges and Lessons Learned

On June 6, 2023, the Japanese company Ispace's second Moon landing attempt, nicknamed Resilience, ended in a crash on the 3.5 billion-year-old volcanic region of the Moon known as Mare Frigoris, or the Sea of Cold. The mission was designed to touch down in this region to further explore the Moon's geological features and collect data.

The problem identified with the Resilience lander was its inability to determine its position relative to the landing site, which led to the crash-landing. The company's investigation revealed that the Laser Range Finder (LRF) hardware was not functioning as designed. The LRF is responsible for telling the lander its position and when to decelerate for a soft landing.

Two possible causes were identified for the issue with the LRF: an installation and assembly error or deterioration of the LRF during the spaceflight to the Moon. The review detected no errors in the installation direction or attitude abnormalities during descent, leading to the conclusion that the possibility of "deterioration in the performance of the LRF during flight or the performance itself was lower than expected" is high.

This is the second Moon landing attempt for Ispace, and they do not plan to stop now. CEO Takeshi Hakamada stated that teams are already working on a correction for future missions. Hakamada emphasized that Ispace will not let this be a setback and will strive to regain the trust of all stakeholders and embark on the next mission: "Never Quit the Lunar Quest."

The picture accompanying this article shows a rendering of the Resilience lander on its descent towards the Moon's surface, with the LRF visible on its underside. The image serves as a reminder of the potential of space exploration and the challenges that must be overcome to achieve successful missions.