[ad_1]
Japan’s “Moon Sniper” probe landed about 55 meters (180 feet) short of its target, the country’s space agency said as it released the first images from the Smart Lander for Investigating the Moon (SLIM) moon mission. The photo taken by a mini-rover shows the boxy yellow lander sitting intact at a slight angle on a rocky gray surface, the lunar slope rising in the distance.
Space agency JAXA said, “SLIM succeeded in a pin-point soft landing… The landing point has been confirmed to be 55 meters away from the target point.” The soft lunar landing made Japan only the fifth country to achieve this feat, after the United States, Soviet Union, China and India. However, a lack of power generated by the light spacecraft’s solar batteries overshadowed the celebrations.
View Full Image
About three hours after touchdown, JAXA decided to shut down SLIM with 12 percent remaining power to allow possible restoration if the Sun’s angle changed. The agency had said that this could happen in just a week because the solar cells of the vehicle are facing west.
The spacecraft is set to look for clues about the moon’s origins, including analyzing minerals with a special camera. Equipped with pads to cushion impact, SLIM was intended to land near the Shioli Crater, an area covered with volcanic rock. By analyzing the rocks there, JAXA hopes to shed light on the mystery of the moon’s potential water resources – a key to one day building a base there as a potential stopover on the way to Mars.
The closely watched mission came just 10 days after a US private company’s Moon mission suffered a fuel leak in the spacecraft hours after launch. SLIM was launched in September on a Mitsubishi Heavy H2A rocket. It initially orbited Earth and entered lunar orbit on 25 December.
View Full Image
SLIM is one of several recent lunar missions by governments and private firms, coming 50 years after the first human Moon landing. Two previous Japanese lunar missions – one public and one private – had also failed. Earlier in 2022, the country unsuccessfully sent a lunar probe named Omotenashi as part of the United States’ Artemis 1 mission. In April, Japanese startup iSpace tried in vain to become the first private company to land on the moon, losing contact with its spacecraft after what was described as a “hard landing.”
(With inputs from AFP, Reuters)
Unlock a world of benefits! From informative newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and personalized newsfeeds – it’s all here, just a click away! log in now!
Watch all business news, market news, breaking news events and latest news updates on Live Mint. Check out all the latest action on Budget 2024 here. Download Mint News app to get daily market updates.
more less
Published: 25 January 2024, 01:06 PM IST
[ad_2]
