CNN Indonesia
Tuesday, 30 Jan 2024 16:12 IWST
Once trapped upside down, the Japanese space probe, SLIM, is claimed to have recovered. (Photo: Jaxa doc) (REUTERS/JAXA)
Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —
Space probe Japan’s Smart Lander for Investigating the Moon (SLIM) managed to recover thanks to solar power after nine days of landing on the surface Moon in the ‘nursing’ position.
“Communication with SLIM was successfully established last night, and operations continued!” said the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, on January 28.
On January 19, the spacecraft was descending towards its landing site near the rim of the Shioli crater when one of its two main thrusters failed, causing SLIM to plummet upwards.
As a result, SLIM’s solar panels were initially at the wrong angle and unable to charge, but on Sunday, the probe began generating electricity, possibly due to a change in the direction of the Sun’s rays, citing Live Science.
Nicknamed the “Moon Sniper,” the spacecraft was designed using a new navigation system that allowed for precision landings. This is proven by SLIM’s impressive accuracy when landing within 100 meters of its target.
This SLIM landing makes Japan the fifth country to land a spacecraft on the Moon. During its landing, SLIM’s navigation technology determined its location as it cruised by comparing real-time images from its cameras with satellite photos of the moon.
Once operational again, SLIM will continue its mission to analyze the composition of olivine, a mineral commonly found in the Moon’s crust, using a multi-band spectral camera.
This camera captures images beyond the wavelengths of light visible to the human eye.
Before the spacecraft lost power, JAXA released images taken by the lander’s camera of rocks in the surrounding area, then shared a new image of a “toy poodle” rock on the lunar surface in a tweet last night.
Although experts are not yet sure how long SLIM will remain operational, JAXA previously said that SLIM is not designed to survive a single lunar night, the next of which begins on February 1.
(tim/dmi)
2024-01-30 09:12:31
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