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Earlier this month, Japan’s highly-anticipated moon mission, the SLIM lander (Smart Lander for Investigating Moon), successfully landed on the lunar surface with pinpoint precision. However, shortly after landing, JAXA turned off the SLIM lander, citing an issue with the solar panels pointing west, away from the Sun. Now, we finally know what happened.According to a statement and a newly released photograph of the lander, JAXA says that it appears to have landed on its nose, with its main thrusters pointing up…

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Company shared the first image of its lander on the lunar surface, revealing that the spacecraft touched down on the moon upside-down. It’s a remarkable recovery for the spacecraft, which experienced an “abnormality in the main engine” that affected the landing orientation when it was just 50 meters above the lunar surface, JAXA said in an update Thursday. Despite this abnormality — which resulted in the spacecraft’s solar panels being unable to charge, because they are not oriented…

The saga of Japan’s lunar lander continues to unfold, with the first images of SLIM on the surface of the Moon revealing the unfortunate position the spacecraft has ended up in.China's Plan to Land Astronauts on the MoonNearly a week after the SLIM lander touched down on the Moon, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) released an image of its spacecraft taken by a tiny rover called Sora-Q, which arrived on the Moon with SLIM. The image shows SLIM in a bind, with its thrusters pointed upward and, worst of all, its…

Shortly after Japan’s space agency became the fifth country to land a spacecraft on the surface of the moon, its scientists discovered the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) unfortunately touched down upside down. The said that the SLIM landed on the lunar surface on January 20 but it knew it might have bigger problems due to an issue with Just hours after making landfall, JAXA expected the power to run out, before it ultimately did.SLIM met the moon’s surface about 55 meters east of the original target landing…

Japan's "Moon Sniper"…

An illustration of Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM). Credit: JAXAJapan’s SLIM lunar landing highlights its advanced space technology and global leadership in space exploration, despite challenges, enhancing its position in international lunar research and collaboration.Japan landed its Smart Lander for Investigating the Moon, or SLIM, craft on the surface of the Moon on January 20, 2024. Despite a power issue with the lander, the event holds both political and technical importance. It’s Japan’s first lunar…

After a successful landing on the moon on January 19, Japan’s SLIM (Smart Lander for Investigating Moon) was turned off to preserve power levels. The reasoning, JAXA shared, was because the solar panels were facing westward, away from the Sun. Now, though, the agency is hopeful it could restore power in the future.How exactly it would restore power to the lander is very much up to chance, though, as the agency notes. The current hope is that sunlight from the west will eventually hit the moon, allowing the agency…

Japan’s space agency, JAXA, achieved a historic soft landing with SLIM on Friday morning, but the lander ran into instant trouble by not being able to collect solar energy and generate electricity. Hopeful for some westerly sunshine, JAXA is cautiously optimistic that SLIM could spring back to life in a couple of weeks.First Full-Color Images From Webb Space TelescopeShortly after its landing on Friday, January 19, JAXA reported issues with SLIM’s solar cells, which were not generating sufficient electricity. On Monday,…

Japan’s long-planned Smart Lander for Investigating Moon has successfully touched down on the lunar surface, making the nation the fifth in history to do so. But all is not well for SLIM, which may have a limited lease on life due to trouble with its solar cells. In a press conference following the early-morning (local time) landing on the moon, the directors of JAXA and the mission explained that “the soft landing was itself successful; SLIM has been communicating and it receiving commands. However, it seems the…

Japan has become the fifth country to successfully land on the moon after confirming today that its SLIM lander survived its descent to the surface — but its mission is likely to be short lived. JAXA, the Japanese space agency, says the spacecraft is having problems with its solar cell and is unable to generate electricity. In its current state, the battery may only have enough juice to keep it running a few more hours.Based on how the other instruments are functioning, JAXA said in a press conference this afternoon that…