Japan’s SLIM Lunar Lander Faces Challenge of Surviving Freezing Lunar Night
Japan’s SLIM lunar lander has faced numerous challenges since its touchdown on the Moon’s surface. Despite a rocky landing that jeopardized its mission, the lander made a remarkable comeback, rejuvenated by the Sun’s rays. However, it now faces its toughest test yet – surviving the freezing lunar night. While this may mark the end of the mission, the lander managed to capture stunning images of the Moon’s surface before entering power-down mode.
On January 19, Japan confirmed that its Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) had successfully soft-landed on the Moon, making it the fifth nation to achieve this feat. However, the team quickly realized that something was amiss. Although the lander had executed a precision landing inside the Shioli Crater and deployed its two rovers – two primary mission objectives – its solar panels were not receiving sunlight, leaving it reliant on batteries.
A remarkable photo captured by one of the rovers revealed that the lander had landed on its nose, preventing the solar panels from harnessing the Sun’s rays. The team hoped that as the Moon orbited around the Earth, the change in angle would eventually allow sunlight to reach the lander’s solar cells and recharge its batteries. After nearly 10 days, their patience paid off, as SLIM came back to life, establishing contact and transmitting new images.
Since then, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has been using SLIM’s Multi-Band Camera (MBC) to scan the lunar surface and capture images for analysis. Surprisingly, SLIM has managed to observe more targets than originally planned, providing valuable insights into the rocky composition of the Moon. However, JAXA recently confirmed that SLIM has entered a dormant state during the two-week lunar night, with no sunlight reaching its panels.
JAXA now faces an anxious wait as SLIM endures the long lunar night, which lasts approximately 14.5 Earth days and brings temperatures as low as -130°C (-208°F). If the lander survives, it can resume its scientific missions and explore the surrounding area of the Shioli crater, located within the larger Cyrillus crater on the near side of the Moon. However, if SLIM does not make it through the freezing night, it has already secured its place in history with the most precise landing on another celestial body.
SLIM’s primary objective was to land within 100 meters (330 feet) of its target area, an impressive feat considering that Perseverance’s landing target area on Mars spanned 7.7 kilometers by 6 kilometers (4.8 by 4.1 miles). JAXA has confirmed that SLIM landed within a mere 55 meters (180 feet) of its intended target, solidifying its achievement.
Surviving the lunar night is a significant challenge for landers, as many are not designed to endure such extreme conditions. If SLIM awakens in two weeks’ time, its mission will have already been accomplished. Nevertheless, it will continue to analyze the chemical composition of the lunar rocks it encounters, contributing to our understanding of the Moon’s origin.
As JAXA patiently awaits SLIM’s fate, the world watches with bated breath. The lander’s journey has been one of resilience and determination, pushing the boundaries of lunar exploration. Whether it continues its mission or not, SLIM has already left an indelible mark on space exploration history.
