Japanese spacecraft successfully lands on the moon, but encounters an issue

Japan's Smart Lander for Lunar Exploration (SLIM) has landed on the moon. Although the spacecraft is not operating perfectly, the successful landing follows a series of recent failed moon landings by governments and private spaceflight companies, and remains encouraging for international efforts to explore the moon. . With this landing, Japan will become the fifth country to land on the moon, following the United States, Soviet Union, China, and India.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched SLIM in September 2023, and the spacecraft took a long orbit to the moon, circling the Earth several times to conserve fuel. It has been orbiting the moon since December, taking images of the surface and preparing for landing.

The January 19 touchdown marked the first use of a technology engineers dubbed “smart eye,” which allows SLIM to aim its landing spot with extreme precision. SLIM determined its position by comparing images from its onboard camera with data from other spacecraft orbiting the moon, then autonomously navigated to a landing site on the slopes of Sioli Crater. JAXA officials are continuing to analyze how well the targeting protocol worked.

Initial signals from SLIM suggest that the solar panels do not appear to be operational, so the spacecraft is operating on battery power for now. If spacecraft operators are unable to figure out what's wrong with the solar cells and get them working, SLIM's scientific capabilities could be hampered and its lifespan significantly shortened. According to JAXA officials, battery life is expected to be only a few hours. It's possible the spacecraft will regain solar power, but for now JAXA's priority is to return as much data as possible to Earth before its batteries run out.

As SLIM descended to the lunar surface, two small rovers, each carrying a small payload of scientific instruments, also descended. One of them is designed to bounce rather than roll on wheels, and the other is a tennis ball. He was designed by toy manufacturers to roll on the moon, with a sphere slightly smaller than a ball. The spacecraft appears to be functioning normally.

Spacecraft landing sites are potentially important. Previous observations suggest that material may have come from inside the moon during the impact that formed the crater. SLIM's scientific instruments can study these minerals to learn about the formation and evolution of the Moon. A successful landing and the scientific data collected will provide useful data for the many spacecraft scheduled to travel to the moon from around the world in the coming years.