Sun, January 28, 2024
By Kantaro Komiya
TOKYO, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Japan's SLIM spacecraft has regained power, its space agency said on Monday, more than a week after it achieved an unconventionally precise lunar landing but ran out of electricity because its solar panels were at the wrong angle.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) re-established communication with its Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) late on Sunday, a JAXA spokesperson said, nearly nine days after the probe's touchdown made Japan the fifth country to put a spacecraft on the moon.
The probe was likely able to generate power thanks to a change in the sunlight's direction, JAXA said.
SLIM resumed its operations to analyse the composition of olivine rocks on the lunar surface with its multi-band spectral camera, in search of clues about the origin of the moon, the agency added.
SLIM touched down on the moon within 55 m (180 ft) of its target in a crater near the lunar equator on Jan. 20. JAXA said it proved an advancement in what it called vision-based "pinpoint" landing - a technology that could be a powerful tool for future exploration of hilly moon poles seen as a possible source of fuel, water and oxygen.
SLIM lost the thrust of one of its two main engines shortly before the touchdown for unknown reasons and ended up drifting a few dozen metres away from the target. The lander safely stopped on a gentle slope but appeared toppled with an engine facing upward in a picture taken by a baseball-sized wheeled rover it deployed.
The probe's solar panels faced westward due to the displacement and could not immediately generate power. JAXA manually unplugged SLIM's dying battery 2 hours and 37 minutes after the touchdown as it completed the transmission of the lander's data to the earth.
JAXA does not have a clear date when SLIM will end its operation on the moon, but the agency has previously said the lander was not designed to survive a lunar night. The next lunar night begins on Thursday. (Reporting by Kantaro Komiya; Editing by Jamie Freed)
Japan: Moon lander Slim comes back to life and resumes mission
Kelly Ng - BBC News
Mon, January 29, 2024
Artwork: Jaxa has become the fifth national space agency to land on the Moon
Japan's Moon lander has resumed operations after being shut for a week due to a power supply issue.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said it re-established contact with the lander Sunday night, indicating that the glitch had been fixed.
Its solar cells are working again after a shift in lighting conditions allowed it to catch sunlight, the agency said.
It could not generate power when it landed on 20 January as the solar cells pointed away from the Sun.
With the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (Slim) spacecraft, Japan became only the fifth country to achieve a soft touchdown on the Moon after the US, the former Soviet Union, China and India.
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The spacecraft ran on battery power for several hours before authorities decided to turn it off to allow for a possible recovery of electricity when the angle of sunlight changed.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Jaxa shared a photograph taken by Slim of a nearby rock that it nicknamed a "toy poodle".
The lander will analyse the composition of rocks in its search for clues about the origin of the moon, Jaxa said.
Slim landed at the edge of an equatorial crater known as Shioli, within 55m (180 ft) of its target in a crater. Jaxa described it as an "unprecedented pinpoint landing".
The landing technology could allow future exploration of hilly Moon poles seen as a potential sources of fuel, water and oxygen, the agency said.
The Slim mission came after several earlier attempts by Japan failed, including one by the start-up iSpace, which saw its lunar lander crash when its onboard computer became confused about its altitude above the Moon.
Jaxa could not immediately say until when Slim will operate on the Moon. It has previously said the lander was not designed to survive a lunar night. A lunar night, which is when the surface of the Moon is not exposed to the Sun, lasts about 14 days.
Statistically, it has proven very hard to land on the Moon. Only about half of all attempts have succeeded.
Prior to Japan, India was the most recent nation to join the elite club of countries that have achieved this. Its Chandrayaan-3's rover touched down near the lunar south pole in August 2023 - an area on the Moon's surface that no human had reached before.
Earlier this month, a US spacecraft launched by a private operator ended its lunar mission in flames over the Pacific. In August last year, Russia's first lunar spacecraft in decades crashed into the Moon after spinning out of control.
Japan's SLIM spacecraft regains power nine days after historic lunar landing
Sky News
Updated Mon, January 29, 2024
Japan's SLIM spacecraft has regained power more than a week after it ran out of electricity after landing on the moon.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said it re-established communication with its lander late on Sunday, nine days after Japan became the fifth country to put a spacecraft on the moon.
The Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) touched down on the moon within 55m (180ft) of its target on 20 January, but a likely failure with one of the probe's two main thrusters meant it landed on its head rather than its feet.
As battery power rapidly drained, mission managers were forced to put the lander into hibernation after just three hours.
But thanks to a change in the sunlight's direction, the probe's solar panels have been able to generate power.
JAXA said the lander has resumed its operations to analyse the composition of olivine rocks on the lunar surface, in search of clues about the origin of the moon.
The agency said it does not have a clear date when SLIM will end its operation, but previously said the lander was not designed to survive a lunar night - the next is on Thursday.
The mission has already been hailed a success, having achieved the primary objective of landing within a 100m diameter target zone - a technology that could prove to be a powerful tool for future exploration of possible sources of fuel, water and oxygen.
Japan: Moon lander Slim comes back to life and resumes mission
Kelly Ng - BBC News
Mon, January 29, 2024
Jaxa produced this render of Slim to show the awkward landing orientation that pointed the solar cells away from the Sun
Japan's Moon lander has resumed operations after being shut down for a week due to a power supply issue.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (Jaxa) said it re-established contact with the lander on Sunday, indicating that the glitch had been fixed.
Its solar cells are working again after a shift in lighting conditions allowed it to catch sunlight, the agency said.
It could not generate power when it landed on 20 January as the solar cells pointed away from the Sun.
With the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (Slim) spacecraft, Japan became only the fifth country to achieve a soft touchdown on the Moon after the US, the former Soviet Union, China and India.
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The spacecraft ran on battery power for several hours before authorities decided to turn it off to allow for a possible recovery of electricity when the angle of sunlight changed.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Jaxa shared a photograph taken by Slim of a nearby rock that it nicknamed a "toy poodle".
The lander will analyse the composition of rocks in its search for clues about the origin of the moon, Jaxa said.
Slim will use an infrared camera to study the composition of a rock called "toy poodle" (circled)
Slim landed at the edge of an equatorial crater known as Shioli, within 55m (180 ft) of its targeted touchdown location. Jaxa described it as an "unprecedented pinpoint landing".
The landing technology could allow future exploration of hilly Moon poles seen as a potential source of fuel, water and oxygen, the agency said.
The Slim mission came after earlier attempts by Japan failed, including one by the start-up iSpace, which saw its lunar lander crash when its onboard computer became confused about its altitude above the Moon.
Jaxa could not immediately say until when Slim will operate on the Moon. It has previously said the lander was not designed to survive a lunar night. A lunar night, which is when the surface of the Moon is not exposed to the Sun, lasts about 14 days.
Statistically, it has proven very hard to land on the Moon. Only about half of all attempts have succeeded.
Prior to Japan, India was the most recent nation to join the elite club of countries that have achieved this. Its Chandrayaan-3's rover touched down near the lunar south pole in August 2023 - an area on the Moon's surface that no human had reached before.
Earlier this month, a US spacecraft launched by a private operator ended its lunar mission in flames over the Pacific. In August last year, Russia's first lunar spacecraft in decades crashed into the Moon after spinning out of control.
It's unclear how long Slim can work but lunar night will return to Shioli in the next few days
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