2024-01-22 23:37:45
Japan successfully landed on the Moon with its Slim probe this Friday, January 19 at 4:20 p.m. Paris time. But what happened next didn’t go as planned and Slim no longer has power. There is still hope of awakening in the coming days!
If the Moon defeated Peregrine, did it defeat Slim, the small lander developed by the Japanese Space Agency (Jaxa)? The probe landed safely according to the agency in a press release and this makes Japan the fifth power to land on the Moon, after the United States, Russia, China, and India last September.
Jaxa, however, clarified at a press conference that Slim has not been able to use his solar panels to recharge with electricity since his moon landing.
A hope for a restart
Although the Jaxa has optimized Slim’s power consumption as best as possible, its battery is now disconnected because it is too low. But the probe’s telemetry indicated that its solar panels are oriented towards the west, that is to say with their backs to the Sun which is rather to the east at the start of the lunar day on the moon landing site. In fact, in a few days, the Sun will be on the good side and Jaxa hopes that the solar panels will work again!
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