Japan Startup Blames Altimeter Problem for Failed Moon Landing

   Tokyo, June 24 (Jiji Press)--Japanese startup ispace Inc. said Tuesday that its lunar probe failed to land on the moon earlier this month because its altimeter malfunctioned.
   The spacecraft was set to touch down on the moon June 6 in the company's second lunar landing attempt. If the mission had succeeded, ispace would have been the first Asian company to achieve a lunar landing.
   In the early hours of the day, the company's second lunar lander began its descent from lunar orbit at a point 100 kilometers above the moon's surface. It was mounted with an altimeter using lasers to measure the distance to the moon's surface.
   The plan was to measure the distance before the lander reached an altitude of 3 km so that it could slowly descend by firing the engines according to the exact altitude.
   However, the altimeter only started its measurements 1 km above the surface. Since the lander had been descending faster than planned, it crashed into the lunar surface due to the delayed deceleration.

(2025/06/24-21:56)

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