--- title: "Lunar Lander Released by NASA’s Artemis 1 Mission Dies" description: "The OMOTENASHI (Outstanding MOon exploration TEchnologies demonstrated by NAno Semi-Hard Impactor), a JAXA CubeSat that launched with Artemis I, has failed." date: "2022-11-22" modified: "2022-11-28" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/omotenashi-nasa-artemis-dies" categories: - "NASA" - "Space" tags: - "artemis" - "JAXA" - "NASA" - "the digest" --- # Lunar Lander Released by NASA’s Artemis 1 Mission Dies ![The OMOTENASHI (Outstanding MOon exploration TEchnologies demonstrated by NAno Semi-Hard Impactor), a JAXA CubeSat that launched with Artemis I, has failed.]() *\Image: JAXA / Futurism\* ## OMOTENASHI Out Tragic news from space! A Japan-made CubeSat called OMOTENASHI (Outstanding MOon exploration TEchnologies demonstrated by NAno Semi-Hard Impactor) has died after being released by NASA's Artemis mission. "Though we tried to recover OMOTENASHI and start the landing sequences today, the communication didn't come back, and we gave up our \[Ultra-High Frequency\] operation on the landing phase," read a [Monday tweet]() from the OMOTENASHI Project. "Thank you for the excellent cooperation from everyone." If it had indeed made its way to the Moon, it would have been Japan's first spacecraft to land on the lunar surface — a milestone for the spacefaring nation, but sadly one it'll have to wait a little longer for. ## Dashed Hopes OMOTENASHI was one of ten CubeSats to launch with Artemis I, along with ArgoMoon, constructed by the Italian spaceflight company Argotec, and NASA's own CubeSat-slash-biolab [BioSentinel](), both of which are currently still intact and en route. JAXA's payload, however, was the only one meant to actually make a controlled landing on the lunar surface. Scientists were hopeful that in successfully getting OMOTENASHI to the Moon, they could better understand small craft landings — an important task for the future of economical space travel. "Its primary objective," reads a [NASA blog](), published July 2021, "is to test the technologies and trajectory maneuvers that allow a small lander to land on the Moon while keeping its systems — including power, communication, and propulsion systems — intact." Unfortunately, however, things clearly didn't go as planned, and the tiny Japanese craft — which clocked in at an adorable 30-ish pounds — is out for the count. And while it's probably better to see OMOTENASHI go rather than the massive, ultra-pricy SLS, it's certainly sad for those who worked to build it, as well as for Japan more broadly — if all went to plan, they would have clocked in as the fourth country ever to land a craft on the surface of the Moon. Can't win 'em all, but definitely a tough one to lose. *Updated to accurately identify the number of cubesats launched with Artemis I.* **More on CubeSats:** *[Italian Probe Will Watch as Nasa Smashes Asteroid with Battering Ram]()* ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()