Japan’s SLIM probe that landed on the moon was put into service after days of power outage. As the Japanese space agency JAXA announced on Monday, the solar panels now apparently produce electricity.
SLIM landed on the moon’s surface on January 20, Japan time. However, the solar panels of the aircraft, which was only 2.4 meters high, no longer produced electricity after landing.
Sent images to Earth
They were oriented to the west and therefore away from the sun. The probe initially operated on battery power before being turned off. “Communication with SLIM was successfully established last night and operations have resumed!”, JAXA said. The probe is now also exploring the lunar surface and has successfully sent photos of rocks to Earth, including one called a “toy poodle” (a breed of dog).
JAXA assumes that the solar panels, despite their unfavorable orientation, can produce electricity as soon as sunlight falls on them from the west side of the moon.
Extremely precise landing
The space agency was satisfied with the project, despite initial energy supply problems. During the moon landing, an unprecedented accuracy of less than ten meters was achieved. In fact, SLIM may have landed only about three to four meters from its destination, it was said.
SLIM landed as planned near the Shioli Crater in a low-lying area called the ‘Nectar Sea’. JAXA hopes that SLIM’s successful precision landing will herald the transition from an era of ‘land where we can’ to an era of ‘land where we want’.
Data should make future moon missions easier
The data obtained will be used in the planning of future lunar missions, for example as part of the US-led ‘Artemis’ programme. NASA wants to return people to the moon after more than 50 years – although the moon landing mission ‘Artemis 3’ was recently postponed until September 2026.
Source: Krone
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