NASA Orbiter Reveals Impact Site of ispace's Crashed Resilience Moon Lander

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has successfully located and photographed the impact site of the Resilience moon lander, a spacecraft developed by the Tokyo-based private company ispace. The lander lost communication during its attempted touchdown on June 5, 2025, in a vast, ancient lava plain known as Mare Frigoris. An image released by the space agency displays a distinct dark smudge on the lunar surface, indicative of a high-speed collision that disturbed the top layer of lunar soil. The event marks the second failed lunar landing attempt for the company.

The Ill-Fated Descent in Mare Frigoris

The Resilience mission was targeting a controlled landing in Mare Frigoris, a region defined by massive basaltic lava flows from over 3.5 billion years ago. Shortly after the landing sequence began, the ispace Mission Control Center lost contact with the vehicle. Subsequent analysis confirmed that the lander had crashed. The small Tenacious microrover, a payload developed by the European branch of ispace, was also destroyed in the failed attempt.

Lunar Scars Revealed in Orbiter Imagery

The imagery captured by NASA's LRO provides clear evidence of the crash. A dark mark signifies the point of impact where the spacecraft disturbed the lunar topsoil, or regolith. This is surrounded by a faint, bright halo created by fine particles ejected across the surface. Mark Robinson, the principal investigator for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera, stated that this visual evidence confirms the crash occurred approximately 2.4 kilometers from the intended landing zone.