Shortly after Japan’s space agency became the fifth country to land a spacecraft on the lunar surface, its scientists discovered the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) had unfortunately landed upside down.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said that SLIM landed on the lunar surface on January 20 but they learned that the craft may face bigger problems due to power generation problems.
Just hours after landing, JAXA predicted a power outage, before it finally happened.
SLIM encountered the lunar surface about 55 meters east of the initial target landing site, JAXA said.
Also read: Japan becomes the fifth country to land on the moon
The agency obtained all technical information related to its navigation before landing and finally stopping on the lunar surface.
JAXA took a SLIM photo of The Lunar Excursion Vehicle 2, a fully autonomous robot exploring the moon.
The reason behind the malfunction of the main engine is being investigated by the space agency.
The chance of regeneration is very small because the solar cells that power the spacecraft face west, meaning there is a chance of SLIM recovery if enough light from the sun reaches the cells over time.
The SLIM JAXA team via X earlier this week wrote, “We are preparing for recovery.”
The agency said it would “take necessary preparations to collect more technical and scientific data from the spacecraft.
2024-01-26 03:59:00
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