Private Lunar Lander From Japan Crashes Into Moon

A private lunar lander from Japan has crashed into the moon. The Tokyo-based company ispace declared the mission a failure several hours after communication was lost with the lander on Friday. Flight controllers tried to gain contact, but were met with only silence. Communication ceased less than two minutes before the spacecraft’s scheduled landing on the moon with a mini rover. It was ispace’s second lunar strikeout. The encore came two years after ispace’s first lander slammed into the moon.