2024-01-19 18:04:25
As of Friday evening, Japan had succeeded in its planned soft landing of its probe on the moon – but there were problems with the power supply. The solar panel is not working, it was said at a press conference with experts from Japan’s space agency Jaxa. The “SLIM” (Smart Lander for Investigating Moon) lander is still communicating with the ground station and receiving data.
The battery capacity is expected to last for a few hours. Further findings can be expected with the evaluation of further data. It cannot yet be said whether the landing took place as planned within a zone of 100 meters.
If successful, Japan would be the fifth country after the former Soviet Union, the USA, China and India to achieve a soft landing on Earth’s satellite. “SLIM” set off to the moon from the Japanese Tanegashima spaceport last September on board a Japanese H2A carrier rocket.
Last April, a private Japanese company failed in a similar mission. The reason given by the company Ispace was an incorrect altitude calculation of the lander. At the beginning of last week, the US company Astrobotic failed to put the “Peregrine” lander on the moon. It would have been the first private landing there ever.
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