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Altitude Miscalculation Caused Lunar Carrying Rashid Rover to Crash

  • Publish date: Saturday، 27 May 2023
Altitude Miscalculation Caused Lunar Carrying Rashid Rover to Crash

Spacecraft HAKUTO-R Mission 1 lunar lander that was carrying the UAE's Rashid Rover crashed on the moon surface due to an altitude miscalculation that caused it to run out of fuel.

Read More: Spacecraft Carrying UAE's Rashid Rover Made Hard Landing on the Moon

Japan-based ispace revealed the results of the failure investigation on Friday, May 26th, saying that an "unexpected behaviour" took place with the lander's altitude measurement.

"While the lander estimated its own altitude to be zero, or on the lunar surface, it was later determined to be at an altitude of approximately 5km above the lunar surface," ispace said. 

"After reaching the scheduled landing time, the lander continued to descend at a low speed until the propulsion system ran out of fuel.

"At that time, the controlled descent of the lander ceased, and it is believed to have free-fallen to the Moon's surface."

The company attributed the incorrect altitude estimation to  malfunctioning software.

The Hakuto-R Mission 1 lander attempted a soft landing on the Moon on April 26th, but made a hard landing on the lunar surface. 

On Tuesday, May 23rd, NASA released images of the location on the Moon, where HAKUTO-R Mission 1 crashed last month.

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