Japan is the fifth country to effectively achieve a soft landing on the Moon. Japan came here after China, the United States, the Soviet Union, and India. The Japanese Smart Lander for Investigating the Moon (SLIM) landed victorious on the celestial body.
On January 19, the lunar lander landed safely on the Moon. However, the lander was traveling on low battery. The craft was only expected to land a few hours after the battery ran out, after landing in the shadows.
In addition, the movement of the sun’s gentle wake made it possible to recharge their solar panels. There has also been debate for more than two weeks about the spacecraft’s ability to withstand temperatures of -200 degrees. They are still following the lander in the hope that it will wake up again.
The SLIM lunar rover landed upside down, with the solar panels facing the sun. The vice president of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Hitoshi Kuninaka, said that despite the setbacks, the project had been a success.
This mission happened just a few weeks after N.A.S.A’s failed lunar lander wasn’t able to safely land on the celestial satellite due to propellant fuel issues. Due to this, the lander was treated as a satellite and flew around the Earth till it then fell back to the Earth and burnt up upon reentry.
The very few successful lander missions are a testament to how truly difficult is to accurately and safely land on the moon without crashing. A 54-year-old undertaking since e the first men walked on the moon.
The lander was also able to land safely within a distance of 100 meters, which is a significant relief from the dozens of kilometers required for maximum landers. In addition, the 200-kilogram spacecraft landed at an angle of 15 degrees instead of the typical four. -Landing with legs.
Scientists say that during this time the spacecraft would possibly have rolled and that’s what turned SLIM upside down.
Also to be ejected from the ship were two small robots that would send photographs to the headquarters in the area. However, it is certain that they have succeeded.
The SLIM lander also had a camera-based navigation formula that it could only use to locate itself in case of loss. The camera’s other intended use was also to locate the mineral olivine in the lunar mantle.
According to mission leader Shinichiro Sakai, this can be used as evidence by comparing lunar olivine to that on Earth. This can help determine if the Moon is part of the Earth at any given time.
The lander is also expected to verify samples from the Apollo 16 mission. The SLIM landing site is only about 250 meters from the Apollo 16 site. The 1972 site is also very close to Mare Nectaris, an ancient lunar sea.
It is assumed that the few basalts or volcanic rocks in the samples came from Mare Nectaris.
However, JAXA scientists believe that the small SLIM lunar spacecraft could have taken its last photo on February 1 if they fail to revive it.
Despite the less-than-stellar results from many of the past missions, the human indomitable spirit prevails. It seems that multiple countries are still attempting to find out all that they can from Earth’s celestial satellite.
There is a NASA-led project, the Artemis project, which was scheduled to take up position in 2025. However, the project was recently delayed from 2026 to 2027. This would still make the United States the only country to land humans on the moon.
The United States is expected to send the rover to the Moon starting in November 2024. NASA’s Volatile Survey polar exploration rover will be sent to the Moon’s south pole on a 100-day mission.
Written By AriAnna Rathers
Sources:
FOX Weather – Check out what is arguably the newest photo of Japan’s lunar lander
Nature-Japan achieves a successful moon landing with the highest precision ever achieved
The Guardian-Japan’s ‘moon sniper’ probe made incredibly accurate landing, but is now upside down
Featured symbol via Zengame’s Flickr page – Creative Commons License
First Inset Image by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Second symbol inserted from David Simonetti’s Flickr page – Creative Commons License
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