Tokyo –
Japan became the fifth country in the world to successfully carry out a “soft landing” on the surface Moon. However, the Japanese space vehicle on the Moon, named “Moon Sniper”, reportedly ran out of power due to solar battery problems.
As reported AFPSaturday (20/1/2024), Japan followed in the footsteps of the United States (US), the Soviet Union, China and most recently India by successfully landing the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) rover on the surface of the Moon.
After a tense 20-minute descent, the Japanese Space Agency or JAXA said SLIM was successful landed on the surface of the Moon and communication has been established.
“Landed on the Moon at 00.20 in the morning on January 20 2024 (Japan time). Communication has been established since landing,” JAXA said in its statement.
“However, solar cells do not produce electricity and obtaining data from the lunar surface is a priority,” he added.
One of the JAXA officials, Hitoshi Kuninaka, said that without functioning solar cells, the lunar rover would only have power for a few hours.
“SLIM is operated by on-board batteries. Data obtained during landing is stored on the space vehicle, and we are currently working to maximize scientific results by first sending this data back to Earth,” explained Kuninaka in his statement.
Read the full news on the next page.
(nvc/idh)
2024-01-20 04:42:50
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