Live coverage: Mission control loses contact with Indian moon lander

United Launch Alliance’s first Vulcan rocket was filled with methane and liquid oxygen propellants at Cape Canaveral last week for a tanking test, but managers decided to move the rocket back inside a hangar for a few adjustments before proceeding with an engine test-firing.

The privately-funded, Israeli-built Beresheet spacecraft failed Thursday during its historic attempt to land on the moon, seeking to become the first mission to reach the lunar surface without significant government backing. The landing was expected to occur at 1925 GMT (3:25 p.m. EDT).

It will take approximately one hour for a Japanese H-2A rocket to propel the Hope Mars orbiter on a trajectory to escape Earth’s gravitational bond, kicking off a seven-month journey to the Red Planet.