2024-01-21 05:47:04
picture explanation,
Japan becomes the 5th country to successfully land on the moon
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- Reporter, Jonathan Amos
- Journalist, BBC science correspondent
-
18 minutes ago
A Japanese probe successfully landed on the moon, but problems with the solar power system raised the possibility that the mission could only last a few hours.
Japan’s lunar exploration lander ‘SLIM’ successfully landed on the surface near the lunar equatorial crater.
With this, Japan became the fifth country to make a soft landing on the moon, following the United States, the Soviet Union, China, and India.
However, Japanese engineers are currently fighting to save this satellite.
For reasons that are not yet fully known, the probe’s solar cells are not producing electricity.
Because of this, Slim has to rely entirely on the battery. The battery will be discharged in a few hours. When discharged, the spacecraft becomes incommunicado and cannot receive commands or communicate with Earth.
Engineers are currently prioritizing their activities.
I turned off the heater and was downloading photos stored on the spacecraft. We’re also collecting data to help us learn how well the landing software performed.
Officials at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (Jaxa) do not appear to be giving up right away just because Slim runs out of power. This is because there is an open possibility that the direction of the solar cell has changed so that it does not see the sun.
A change in the angle of light on the moon could bring Slim back to life, officials said.
picture explanation,
The Japanese public cheered the news of Japan’s soft landing on the lunar surface
When asked at a press conference whether Japan had really succeeded in achieving a soft landing, Jaxa Director Hitoshi Kuninaka answered that it could be seen as such.
“If the powered descent had not been successful, it would have hit the surface at a very high speed and completely lost the functionality of the spacecraft,” he told reporters.
“But the fact that data is still being transmitted properly means that the original goal of a soft landing has been successfully achieved.”
Slim was carrying two small mobile rovers, and telemetry showed that the rovers were separated as planned just before landing.
Equipped with an infrared camera, the rover was scheduled to study the local geology over the next two weeks. However, it is unclear how much investigation can be conducted in a given amount of time.
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Images of JAXA’s two exploration robots: On the left is the jumping robot ‘Hopper’, and on the right is a robot that changes shape as it rolls.
It has been statistically proven that landing on the moon is very difficult. To date, only about half of all attempts have been successful.
Jaxa was counting on a new precision navigation system this time.
The lander was able to reach the landing site as the onboard computer helped it avoid danger through rapid image processing and creator mapping.
Engineers set a goal of getting within 100 meters of the target, and now they are looking at data to see how well Slim has achieved that goal. But early evidence so far suggests the technology worked as designed.
“Looking at the tracking data, I think it’s clear that Slim landed with 100m accuracy. Of course, as we told you in advance, it takes about a month to accurately analyze the information,” Kuninaka said.
Slim began a descent maneuver at an altitude of 15 km at midnight on the 20th, Japanese local time. She followed suit and 20 minutes later she landed.
The area near the landing site, Scioli Crater, is currently receiving sunlight, but a long darkness equivalent to the night of the moon is expected to arrive at the end of this month.
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Japan’s target landing site is the slope leading to Scioli Crater, just south of the lunar equator.
Jaxa has landed robots on asteroids twice, so this moon landing is another feat.
The robot will play a key role in the Artemis program, NASA’s plan to send humans back to the lunar surface for the first time in half a century.
Meanwhile, last year, iSpace, a private Japanese company, failed to land on the moon. The Hakuto-R spacecraft crashed because the computer was confused about the altitude of the moon.
On the 18th, the Peregrine lander launched by the U.S. private company Astrobotic burned up in the atmosphere. This lander could not even attempt to land due to a faulty propulsion system.
Dr. Simeon Barber of the Open University in the UK has equipped Peregrine with measurement equipment.
He paid tribute to Japan’s efforts.
“For this launch in Japan, I was only interested in the landing. This is a huge success. “I would be very happy to be part of this project,” he told the BBC.
“We live in an era where lunar exploration is a collaboration between many different actors. “If everyone involved pools the knowledge gained during implementation, I believe we can learn together about how to successfully execute future missions.”
Likewise, Dr. Emma Gatti of the digital magazine ‘Spacewatch Global’ also said that Japan deserves congratulations. “It is historic for Japan and a national honor,” she said. It is important both at the national level and considering the effort they have invested. “This is proof that you don’t have to be a big country like the United States or China to successfully explore the moon,” she added.
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