Japan’s lunar lander made history and defied the odds, but it may finally be down for the count.
By
|
Published Feb 2, 2024 2:30 PM EST
This might be the last image Earth receives from Japan’s lunar probe. Credit: JAXA, Ritsumeikan University, University of Aizu
SHARE
SLIM, Japan’s historic moon lander, is officially powered down in preparation for a brutal, likely fatal lunar nighttime lasting around 14.5 days. Before drifting off to what very probably will be a permanent slumber, however, the small craft beamed back a few final glimpses of its new home to mission control at the Japanese space agency, JAXA.
[Related: Japan’s SLIM lunar lander stuck the landing—upside down.]
“Last night (January 31st to February 1st), we sent a command to turn on the probe’s communication device just in case, and when there was no response, we confirmed that SLIM had entered a dormant state,” reads a machine translated message from JAXA posted to X on Thursday. “This is the last scene taken by SLIM with its navigation camera before dusk.”
After completing operation from 1/30 ~ 1/31, #SLIM entered a two week dormancy period during the long lunar night 🌚. Although SLIM was not designed for the harsh lunar nights, we plan to try to operate again from mid-February, when the Sun will shine again on SLIM’s solar cells. pic.twitter.com/JO4ZgDaOxo
— 小型月着陸実証機SLIM (@SLIM_JAXA) February 1, 2024
Japan’s Smart Lander for Investigating Moon, or SLIM, first ran into trouble during its descent on January 19, when its main engines malfunctioned approximately 162-feet above the lunar surface. The resultant loss of thrust threw the lander off kilter, and while it arrived intact, it did so nosedown with SLIM’s solar panels faced westward. Engineers worried the lander would be unable to generate enough power to continue communicating with Earth for very long, and SLIM subsequently went silent only a few hours after its arrival—although its two, tiny autonomous robots ejected unscathed to begin their own surveys.
Japan’s lunar lander SLIM landed upside down. Credit: JAXA/Takara Tomy/Sony Group Corporation/Doshisha University JAXA/Takara Tomy/Sony Group Corporation/Doshisha University
Almost 10 days later, however, the sun’s return provided SLIM enough juice to reboot itself and commence a few more operations, including using its Multi-Band Camera to scan the chemical composition of its lunar surroundings. JAXA researchers are currently analyzing all the data SLIM relayed back to Earth, paying specific attention to the detection of olivine, which “will help solve the mystery of the origin of the moon,” jaxa.jp/topics/003674.html” rel=”noopener”>JAXA officials said in a statement released on February 1.
SLIM’s final glimpse of the moon shows a darkening landscape as it enters its lengthy lunar night,