EPAA drawing of SLIM’s landing on the moon’s surface last Friday
NOS Nieuws•gisteren, 17:03
The Japanese space agency JAXA is hopeful that the lunar lander SLIM can be saved from an early end. After landing on Friday, it turned out that SLIM was unable to generate its own energy because the solar panels were not working.
The information sent to Earth immediately after landing shows that the lander landed incorrectly. The solar panels are now facing west, instead of upwards. “If sunlight shines on the moon from the west, we believe that generating power is possible,” JAXA said.
Shortly after landing, the batteries that SLIM has on board did work. These were switched off three hours after landing to prevent the power contained in them from being completely used up. That would prevent restarting the equipment on board.
Landing place
Japan is the fifth country to have a spacecraft soft-land on the moon. The aim was also to land the spacecraft within a hundred meters of the intended landing site. That would represent a breakthrough, lunar landers from other countries landed miles from the intended landing site. It is not yet clear whether the Japanese have managed to get much closer. More information about this may be known later this week.
If all goes well, Slim is now in a place where deeper moon layers come to the surface. Examination of the stones there should reveal whether there is water beneath the surface. This is important if people want to establish a station on the moon in the future.
2024-01-22 16:03:37
#Japan #SLIM #lunar #lander
