Revealing photos of the Japanese spacecraft SLIM Successfully landed on the lunar surface. But an error occurred during landing. Instead, the head was planted on the surface of the moon.
January 26, 2024 Facebook NARIT National Astronomical Research Institute Post a picture with the caption: “This is a picture of the Japanese spacecraft SLIM. that successfully landed on the lunar surface But an error occurred during landing. Instead of landing normally But it turned out that the spacecraft had its head planted on the surface of the moon instead.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has released photos of the SLIM landing on Wednesday night, January 24, 2024, taken by the LEV-2 (Lunar Exploration Vehicle-2) miniature exploration robot. Also known as SORA-Q, it is one of two small robotic probes sent to the moon along with the SLIM spacecraft.
This lunar exploration mission There is not only the SLIM spacecraft that has the highest touch on the lunar surface in its class. But there are also two miniature survey robots the size of tennis balls, LEV-1 and LEV-2, following along on missions. Both robots are designed to transform from a spherical cube into two halves. in order to crawl around on the lunar surface
SLIM, or Smart Lander for Investigating Moon, is a spacecraft designed to demonstrate the technology needed to land on another planet with high precision. The craft reached lunar orbit around Christmas last year. and landed on the lunar surface on January 19, 2024. The landing of the SLIM spacecraft did not go as smoothly as astronomers had intended. Due to the time the vehicle was touching the ground The contact signal has disappeared. The mission control team speculated that it may have been caused by a malfunction of the solar panels.
Not long after that The control team received another signal. This photo taken by the tiny LEV-2 rover shows the SLIM spacecraft parked with its head planted on the surface of the moon. And this is the reason why the craft cannot generate electricity. This is because the front of the solar panel is not exposed to sunlight.
Although the landing of the SLIM spacecraft was not as beautiful as expected, But beneath this unattractiveness, there is still success hidden. That is, both miniature survey robots still function well. and can communicate with each other This image is an image taken by LEV-2 and sent to LEV-1 before sending the data back to Earth.
JAXA says the SLIM spacecraft is still operational. Even though the signal is silent The operator’s team is preparing for the vehicle’s resuscitation. It is hoped that on February 1, 2024, the day the sun will set over the horizon in the area where the SLIM spacecraft is parked, it may be possible that The craft will be able to produce electricity again. and wake up and be able to carry on with the mission”.
Thank you Facebook NARIT, National Astronomical Research Institute.
