Japan has become the fifth country in the world to successfully land a space probe on the moon this Saturday. There’s just a little snag: the solar panels are not yet operational. It’s hence anticipatory on how successful the mission will be.
Without functioning solar cells, the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon, also known as SLIM, will last at the utmost, a few hours. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean all hope is lost. If the Sun starts shining from a different direction, SLIM might resume its operations. This was the reason for shutting down the moon lander when there was around 12% of battery left, to avoid a situation that could make a restart difficult, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) reported on Monday.
JAXA also confirmed that the landing was successful. “We are relieved and starting to become happy now it is confirmed that a lot of data has been gathered”, they stated. According to the information, SLIM’s solar cells are facing the west. “If sunlight shines on the moon from the west, we think it’s possible to generate power. We are currently preparing for recovery”, the Japanese agency further noted.
A Masterpiece
The priority now lies with the analysis of all the data collected during the landing. This should, at least, clarify whether one of the mission’s major objectives was achieved – a landing within 100 meters of the intended landing site, a first in history. Normal moon landers land kilometers away from the planned site. Additionally, the landing is next to a crater, implying a slope of 15 degrees which makes the task even more difficult. Due to this extremely challenging precision landing, the spacecraft is also often termed as the Moon Sniper.
Searching for Water
The reason SLIM needed to land exactly there is the mission’s intention of reaching a crater where the moon’s mantle, normally located deep under the crust, is accessible. The rock there would be crucial in learning more about the moon and Earth’s origins. More importantly, it could provide insights into the possible presence of water, essential if we ever want to establish a base on the moon.
Two probes are already investigating, one with a transmitter and one that rolls across the moon’s surface, sending pictures back to Earth. This mini-rover, named SORA-Q, is barely larger than a tennis ball and inspired by how a turtle moves on the beach. Intriguingly, it was co-developed by the company behind the Transformers toys.
Only Few Have Succeeded
More than fifty years after the first moon landing on July 20, 1969 (That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind), Japan is now the fifth country to have accomplished this feat, following the United States, the then Soviet Union, China, and India.
Reaching the moon turned out to be much more challenging than previously thought. Japan’s two earlier moon missions failed. Other countries and private companies also attempted, but couldn’t succeed in reaching the moon’s surface. Last week, it was revealed that the mission of the American company Astrobotic failed. Astrobotic was aiming for the first commercial moon landing, but after the launch, the Peregrine moon lander was found to be leaking fuel, rendering the moon unreachable. Peregrine eventually burned up in the atmosphere last Thursday evening. Some useful data were still gathered. Even NASA has postponed the Moon missions within its Artemis program, which was initially expected to commence this year, till at least 2026, due to issues with both the rocket and the Orion capsule.
