1706677723
/ JAXA/ Takara Tomy / Sony Group Corporation / Doshisha University Photo of the SLIM (Smart Lander for Investigating Moon) spacecraft on the Moon, taken by the SORA-Q (or LEV-2) mini-rover.
/ JAXA/ Takara Tomy / Sony Group Corporation / Doshisha University
Photo of the SLIM (Smart Lander for Investigating Moon) spacecraft on the Moon, taken by the SORA-Q (or LEV-2) minirover.
SPACE – “Communication with Slim was successfully established last night and operations have resumed! »raves the Japanese Space Agency (Jaxa) this Monday, January 29th. The spacecraft has been struggling with a technical problem since its successful moon landing ten days ago. But it wasn’t the 384,400 km separating the Earth from the Moon that prevented JAXA from finding a solution.
On January 19, Japan held its breath as its Slim (Smart Lander for Investigating Moon) spacecraft attempted to land on the moon. More than four months after the mission began, it reached its climax: the lunar landing attempt. Especially since Japan added a level of difficulty. The country’s goal is to land the device less than 100 meters from its target, hence the nickname “Moon Sniper”.
After a breathtaking twenty-minute descent, the Jaxa announces that Slim has landed on the moon. With its Chandrayaan-3 mission, Japan is the fifth country to successfully land on the moon after the USSR, the USA, China and India. Better yet, the plane landed 55 meters from its target, exceeding the Japanese space agency’s expectations.
The sun returned to Slim
But Jaxa soon faced a problem: Slim could no longer use his solar panels after landing on the moon. This technical problem forced the Jaxa to cut power less than three hours later to conserve batteries for a possible restart.
Because when the probe actually landed on the lunar surface, it was crooked, as the photo taken a few days later by its mini rover SORA-Q proves. This position therefore prevented it from receiving the light necessary for its solar panels.
But the teams don’t lose hope. They decide to wait until the sun’s angle changes so that they are in Slim’s lunar landing zone. This allows the sun’s rays to reach its photovoltaic panels and thus provide it with the energy needed to restart the probe. A strategy that has paid off since Jaxa announced the resumption of operation of the device this Monday, January 29th.
See also further Le HuffPost :
You cannot view this content because:
- By subscribing, you have opted out of cookies related to third-party content. You will therefore not be able to play our videos, which require third-party cookies to function.
- You are using an ad blocker. We recommend you disable it to access our videos.
If neither of these two cases apply to you, contact us at [email protected].
#Japans #lunar #mission #saved #Slim #probe #wakes