An altitude sensor on the Hakuto-R Mission 1 lander correctly indicated the ground had fallen away sharply as the lander passed over a crater but the lander’s software rejected that reading as an error, Japanese lunar-mission company Ispace said in a statement. That meant the lander was still five kilometres up when it expected to be touching down, and it didn’t have enough propellant to keep descending at a safe speed. (The Logic)

Talking point: Ispace changed its planned landing site after a critical design review in 2021 and didn’t reconsider what the different lunar topography would mean for the lander’s systems, it said. Two planned future missions, adjusted for the lessons from the first mission, are still on track. Mission 1 launched in December, carrying cameras from Canadensys and rover-testing software from Ottawa’s Mission Control Space Services that’s meant to help future rovers operate more autonomously on the moon’s surface.