The space agency announced on X that Japan’s Moonlander has resumed operations, indicating that power has been restored. “We were able to get in touch with SLIM last night and were able to start again
After the electricity was restored, SLIM, Japan’s moon landing craft, started up again. The lightweight spacecraft’s objectives include testing novel landing techniques and investigating lunar origins through mineral analysis.
According to the agency, a change in lighting circumstances caused it to receive sunlight again, pushing its solar cells to function.
Because the solar cells were pointing away from the sun when it landed on January 20, it was unable to produce any electricity.
Japan became just the fifth nation after the US, the former Soviet Union, China, and India to accomplish a soft landing on the moon using the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (Slim) Spacecraft.
Authorities chose to switch off the spacecraft after it had been operating on battery power for a few hours in order to recover electricity when the sun’s angle shifted.
With reference to the multiband spectroscopic camera on the lander, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency declared, “We successfully obtained the first light for 10-band observation, and we immediately started scientific observations with MBC.
When Slim will operate on the moon is something Jaxa cannot immediately tell. As stated earlier, the lander was not intended to withstand a night on the moon. About 14 days pass during a lunar night, during which the moon’s surface is shielded from the sun.
After the US, Russia, China, and India, Japan is the next country to reach the moon.
Five decades after the first human moon landing, this probe is part of several new lunar missions that governments and private companies have launched.
Japan has been increasing its space endeavours and even developing agreements with the US to fight China’s space aspirations.
The new flagship rocket H3, which was intended to compete with other rockets like SpaceX, failed to launch in March, one of JAXA’s many disasters.
