Tech
Second moon landing attempt leaves private space firm in limbo
A private space firm from Japan likely did not stick its moon landing on Thursday, which would make this the second failed attempt to get to the lunar surface for the company in the past two years.
The mission, dubbed Hakuto-R by the company ispace, tried to touch down around 3:15 p.m. ET on June 5 after a long 4.5-month meandering journey to save on fuel. But the team lost communication with the lander — a foreboding sign that something probably went wrong.
Ispace invited the public to watch alongside its Tokyo-based mission control, where it was already the early morning hours of June 6. The landing sequence lasted about an hour as the robotic spacecraft Resilience performed a braking engine burn and followed automated commands to adjust the lander's orientation and speed.
The livestream showed a stoic crowd of engineers piled into the mission control room, staring intensely at their consoles for updated information on the spacecraft's status.
"Telemetry figures are not coming," one of the broadcast commentators said through an English interpreter.
After minutes of waiting, the broadcast ended with ispace spokespeople saying they would try to have answers at a news conference later in the day.
Credit: ispace screenshot
The Resilience lander was supposed to deliver a tiny European rover, dubbed Tenacious, to the surface. The robot is smaller than a toddler's Big Wheel and armed with a scoop for collecting soil. If everything had gone as planned, it could have been the first European spacecraft to drive on the moon.
The lander was also carrying a miniature replica of a traditional Swedish house. The red dollhouse, called the Moonhouse, would have been placed on the surface, for no other purpose than art.
Resilience was targeting a northern location, a relatively easier site than the dark, heavily cratered south pole, where many other spacefaring countries and companies want to go. The area is known as Mare Frigoris, aka the "Sea of Cold," which stretches across the near side's top.
Credit: ispace
Landing on the moon remains onerous — demonstrated by numerous flopped landings. Though Firefly Aerospace succeeded in landing in March, another U.S. company, Intuitive Machines, didn't fare as well, ending up on its side in a crater less than a week later.
The difficulty arises from the lunar exosphere, which provides virtually no drag to slow a spacecraft down as it approaches the ground. What's more, there are no GPS systems on the moon to help guide a craft to its landing spot. Engineers have to compensate for those challenges from 239,000 miles away.
Ispace's first Hakuto-R lander crashed in April 2023 because it ran out of fuel on the way down, unable to control its landing. It was unclear immediately after the second attempt on Thursday if the lander had faced the same fate.
The mission is just one of many other commercial missions expected to attempt this feat, most of which are an outgrowth of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services Program. The program was established in 2018 to recruit the private sector to help deliver cargo to the moon. Ispace couldn't directly participate in the NASA program because it isn't an American company, but it is collaborating on one of the contracts led by Draper Technologies in Massachusetts, expected to land on the moon in 2025.
These upcoming missions will support the U.S. space agency's lunar ambitions, shipping supplies and experiments to the surface ahead of astronauts' arrival in 2027 or later. They're also supposed to kickstart a future cislunar economy, the perceived market opportunity for business ventures on and around the moon.
"We need to never quit the lunar quest," a commentator's interpreter said.
Taylor Swift's upcoming studio album The Life of a Showgirl probably wasn't the muse for Apple's new Cosmic Orange iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max, as many Swifties theorized. But it did inspire a new case for those handsets.
The popular mobile accessories brand OtterBox has launched a new limited-edition phone case called the Encore, a $60 entry in its slim Symmetry Series with a distinct glittery orange design. Its moniker and product details don't directly name-drop Swift or TLOAS, but the Easter eggs are in screaming color (quite literally).
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"Symmetry Series Clear Encore is a new era in case aesthetics, standing center stage with brilliant sparkles and high energy," reads its description on OtterBox's website. The first bullet point on its feature list hails it as "the case of the year to match the album of the year."
For added context, the internet has been awash in tangerine ever since Swift announced TLOAS in mid-August. The Cruel Summer singer, 35, assigns a different color scheme to each of her album eras — a tone-setter that doubles as a clever marketing tool, experts told Billboard. She's claimed bright orange for her Showgirl era, and its main vinyl variant is pressed in Portofino Orange Glitter.
Even more incriminatingly, though, a press image poses the Encore next to sparkly showgirl-apt accessories and two of Taylor's classic calling cards: friendship bracelet beads, a lyrical reference that evolved into an Eras Tour tradition; and (ding ding ding!) a tube of red lipstick. A promo video for it also features a song that sounds identical to "Shake it Off" instrumentals. The only way the Encore could get even Swiftier is if people try to flip it for thousands of dollars.
As an OtterBox Symmetry Series case, the Encore features a scratch-resistant polycarbonate shell with raised edges that protect the phone's screen and camera from drop damage. It's not as durable as the brand's Commuter, Sole, and Defender Series cases, but it's a tad tougher than its entry-level Profile styles. It comes with built-in magnets to support wireless charging and compatible accessories (like MagSafe grips, stands, and wallets).
The Encore is priced at $59.99 and up for preorder exclusively on OtterBox's website, where a 25% discount is available for shoppers who bundle it with a screen protector or power accessory. It's available for the new iPhone 17, 17 Pro, 17 Pro Max, 16, 16 Pro, 16 Pro Max, 15, and the Galaxy S25 Ultra. (Versions for the iPhone 16e, iPhone 15, iPhone 14, and iPhone 13 are coming soon.) All in-stock variants were estimated to ship on Saturday, Oct. 18, at the time of writing.
The Life of a Showgirl itself comes out on Friday, Oct. 3, and you can preorder it through Target or Swift's online store.
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"The Life of a Showgirl" Sweat and Vanilla Perfume Portofino Orange Glitter Vinyl
at TaylorSwift.com
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In perhaps the most out-of-touch statement since Lucille Bluth priced bananas, Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino — the boss of the company that runs Ticketmaster — said that, actually, concert tickets are too cheap. I'd like to see him tell that to literally any non-millionaire American who's tried to see their favorite artist.
The comments from Rapino came this week while speaking at CNBC and Boardroom’s Game Plan conference. They quickly circulated online and, frankly, I thought they had to be fake. As a CEO, it's the kind of thing you might think, but probably not something you say out loud.
And if you think we're stripping out some crucial context, think again — the executive was pretty clear in his assessment. For full context, the comments came as Rapino noted that the most expensive sports tickets go for wildly high prices compared to concerts.
"Music has been under-appreciated," Rapino said, according to Vice. "In sports, I joke it's like a badge of honor to spend 70 grand for a Knicks courtside [seat]. They beat me up if we charge $800 for Beyoncé."
He argued that concerts — especially those from the biggest stars — are now more complex productions and should come with higher price tags.
He even said that there's plenty of room for concert tickets to get even more expensive.
"We have a lot of runway left," Rapino said, via Rolling Stone. "So when you read about ticket prices going up, the average concert price is still $72. Try going to a Laker game for that, and there's 80 of them. The concert is underpriced and has been for a long time."
Let's, for a moment, forget that someone paying $70,000 to attend a basketball game is already ridiculous — a gross display of conspicuous consumption, and, in practice, a fee for sitting close to athletes, TV cameras, and celebrities with comped tickets. Sports games are higher priced — and remain the crown jewel of televised events — because they are one-off events with an undetermined outcome. Yes, there are 82 regular-season Laker games, but no one is like the other. You're paying for exclusive access to a thing that will never be repeated.
A concert, meanwhile, is, by its nature, much like the night before and the night after. It's also not totally dissimilar to what you'll find on Spotify. I'm saying this as someone who goes to way more shows than sports games. Buying entry to a concert or show is my primary ticket-buying experience. And, in my experience, prices are really freaking high.
On average, a ticket to Taylor Swift's Eras Tour cost $3,071 in Indianapolis, the capital of a state with a median income of $71,959. The price of a single ticket was double the average monthly rent in the city. That surely cannot be considered "underpriced."
In case you were wondering, Rapino's total compensation last year was $33 million, which was a jump from the measly $23.4 million the year prior and a big dip from $139 million in total comp — yes, you read that right — in 2022.
As consumers, we've all come to expect paying high prices — and excessive Ticketmaster fees — to go see our favorite artists. And we know that arrow is only pointing in one direction going forward. But next time you pull out your credit card to shell out hundreds of bucks — thousands, maybe — to see your favorite musician, you can at least take solace in knowing the Ticketmaster boss thinks you got a great deal.
This story reflects the author's opinion.
If you like playing daily word games like Wordle, then Hurdle is a great game to add to your routine.
There are five rounds to the game. The first round sees you trying to guess the word, with correct, misplaced, and incorrect letters shown in each guess. If you guess the correct answer, it'll take you to the next hurdle, providing the answer to the last hurdle as your first guess. This can give you several clues or none, depending on the words. For the final hurdle, every correct answer from previous hurdles is shown, with correct and misplaced letters clearly shown.
An important note is that the number of times a letter is highlighted from previous guesses does necessarily indicate the number of times that letter appears in the final hurdle.
If you find yourself stuck at any step of today's Hurdle, don't worry! We have you covered.
Hurdle Word 1 hint
To creep around.
Hurdle Word 1 answer
SNEAK
Hurdle Word 2 hint
A long-legged bird.
Hurdle Word 2 Answer
STORK
Hurdle Word 3 hint
To throw.
Hurdle Word 3 answer
CHUCK
Hurdle Word 4 hint
More accurate.
Hurdle Word 4 answer
TRUER
Final Hurdle hint
They show when one smiles.
Hurdle Word 5 answer
TEETH
If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
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