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A SpaceX Falcon nine rocket, with a payload that adds two lunar rovers from Japan and the United Arab Emirates, lifts off from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Station in Florida in December 2022. Japan, the fifth country in history to succeed on the moon when its spacecraft landed on the lunar surface early Saturday, officials said. But a challenge at the source of strength means the project could be compromised.
JAXA VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS
In this image made from live streaming released by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), a screen shows landing information as the robotic moon rover called Smart Lander for Investigating Moon, or SLIM, attempts its lunar landing.
TOKYO >> Japan is the fifth country in history to reach the moon when its spacecraft landed on the lunar surface early Saturday, officials said. But a challenge in the power source means the project could be compromised.
Officials also said they needed more time to analyze whether the spacecraft, which was not carrying astronauts, had made an accurate landing, one of the mission’s priorities.
Hitoshi Kuninaka, head of the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, said they believe that rovers were launched and data were being transmitted back to Earth from the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon, or SLIM.
But he said SLIM’s solar battery doesn’t produce electricity and that the spacecraft’s battery life will only last a few more hours. He said the priority now is for the spacecraft to gather as much lunar knowledge as imaginable with the remaining battery.
Japan follows the United States, the Soviet Union, China, and India in their search for the Moon.
Kuninaka said he believes Japan’s program has achieved at least “minimal” success.
SLIM landed on the moon on Saturday at 00:20 Tokyo time (Friday 15:20 GMT).
There was a tense wait for news after the Japan space agency’s mission control initially said that SLIM was on the lunar surface, but that it was still “checking its status.” No further details were given until a news conference nearly two hours later.
In order for the project to be considered fully successful, area officials will have to verify whether SLIM made an accurate landing. Kuninaka said that even if more time was needed, he personally believes it was probably accomplished, based on the knowledge that appears in Moving the craft to landing.
SLIM, which was aimed at a very small target, is a lightweight spacecraft the size of a passenger vehicle. It used a generation of “precision landing” that promises far more than any previous moon landing.
While most previous probes used landing zones about 10 kilometers (six miles) wide, SLIM aimed at a target of only 100 meters (330 feet).
The task is the result of two decades of precision generation work through the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA.
As the spacecraft descended, the JAXA project said everything was going according to plan and then said SLIM was on the lunar surface. But it was not disputed whether the landing was successful. Mission Control has continually stated that it is “verifying his status” and that additional data will be provided at the press conference.
SLIM, nicknamed “the lunar sniper,” began its descent on Saturday and within 15 minutes had descended to about 10 kilometers (six miles) above the lunar surface, according to the space company called JAXA.
At an altitude of five kilometers (three miles), the lander was in vertical descent mode, and then at 50 meters (165 feet) above the surface, SLIM was to perform a parallel movement to locate a landing point, JAXA said.
The main goal of the mission is to test the new generation of landing that would allow lunar missions to land “where we want them to, rather than where it’s easy to land,” JAXA said. The spacecraft is meant to search for clues about the moon’s origin, analyzing minerals with a special camera.
The SLIM, equipped with a cushion to cushion the impact, was intended to land near Shioli Crater, near a region covered with volcanic rock.
The heavily monitored project took place just 10 days after a failed lunar project led by a U. S. company when the spacecraft suffered a fuel leak hours after launch.
SLIM was introduced on a Mitsubishi Heavy H2A rocket in September. It orbited the Earth for the first time and entered lunar orbit on December 25.
Japan hopes to regain confidence in its space generation after several failures. A spacecraft designed by a Japanese company crashed in a lunar landing attempt in April, and a new flagship rocket failed on its first launch in March.
JAXA has a track record with difficult landings. Its Hayabusa2 spacecraft, launched in 2014, touched down twice on the 900-meter-long (3,000-foot-long) asteroid Ryugu, collecting samples that were returned to Earth.
Experts say SLIM’s successful landing on the moon would raise Japan’s profile in the global race for space generation.
Takeshi Tsuchiya, a professor of aeronautics at the University of Tokyo’s Graduate School of Engineering, said it’s vital to verify landing accuracy in a target domain for long-term lunar exploration.
“It is necessary to show the world that Japan has the appropriate technology in order to be able to properly assert Japan’s position in lunar development,” he said. The moon is important from the perspective of explorations of resources, and it can also be used as a base to go to other planets, like Mars, he said.
SLIM carries two small autonomous probes: the LEV-1 and LEV-2 lunar excursion vehicles, which will be launched before landing.
LEV-1, equipped with antenna and camera, is responsible for recording the SLIM landing. LEV-2 is a ball-shaped rover with two cameras, developed through JAXA in collaboration with Sony, toy manufacturer Tomy and Doshisha University.
JAXA will broadcast a broadcast of the landing, while area enthusiasts will gather to watch the historic moment on the big screen at the agency’s Sagamihara campus southwest of Tokyo.
Ayaka McGill contributed to this report.
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