TOKYO — Japan has abandoned efforts to land its ultrasmall OMOTENASHI probe on the moon, the country’s space agency said Tuesday, dashing hopes for the nation’s first-ever lunar landing.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s spacecraft, launched Wednesday on NASA’s Artemis I mission, has been plagued by communications problems since it separated from the Space Launch System rocket that night. JAXA hoped to attempt a landing as soon as Monday night if all went well, but the agency failed to restore communications in time.
