Streak of Moon Lander Crashes Prompts Questioning
As ispace works to determine root cause of fueling-related M1 crash, observers are left to ponder why landing on Moon has eluded all efforts in 21st Century, save for CNSA CLEP sequence Chang’E 3-5; SpaceIL Beresheet (2019) IMU failure led to ill-timed reset command, cutting main engine; ISRO Chandrayaan-2 (2019) suffered software error with similar result; JAXA OMOTENASHI (2022) semi-hard impactor lost comms with Goldstone Deep Space Station; Generally, low gravity / atmosphere and dust are challenging factors; Budget for testing / fuel margin may also contribute to lunar landing difficulty