Japan’s ‘Moon Sniper’ robot explorer resumes operations on lunar surface | CNN

JAXA

Japan’s space agency revealed an illustration of what occurred to the ‘Moon Sniper’ robotic explorer, which touched down on the lunar surface on January 19, 2024.

Tokyo
CNN
 — 

Japan’s “Moon Sniper” robot explorer is operational again, as announced by the country’s space agency on Monday, after encountering a power issue following its landing on the moon 10 days ago.

The explorer accomplished a precise landing on January 19, marking Japan as the fifth country to successfully place a spacecraft on the lunar surface — but encountered a significant issue immediately after.

One of its engines failed during landing, causing the spacecraft to land facing the wrong direction, which meant its solar cells were unable to produce electricity, and it had to rely on limited battery power, according to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

The agency decided to shut down the lunar explorer to conserve its battery, with the plan to automatically restart it once its solar panel began producing power as the moon’s angle changed.

On Monday, JAXA announced on social media platform X that it had “succeeded in establishing communication with (Smart Lander for Investigating Moon, or SLIM) last night and have resumed operations!”

The explorer has also captured new images of the lunar surface, it added.

Its mission can be considered at least a “minimum success” because it achieved a precise and soft lunar landing using optical navigation, the agency has said. Japan now aims to utilize the lander to gather unprecedented information about a region of the moon called the Sea of Nectar.

The spacecraft touched down near a crater called Shioli, located about 200 miles (322 kilometers) south of the Sea of Tranquility, the region near the lunar equator where Apollo 11 first landed astronauts on the moon.

Various space agencies and countries have undertaken moon landing missions over the past year, resulting in both a historic first and some unsuccessful attempts.

India became the fourth country to execute a controlled landing on the moon — following the United States, the former Soviet Union, and China — when its Chandrayaan-3 mission reached the lunar south pole in August.

The new lunar space race is partially motivated by countries’ interest in accessing water trapped as ice in permanently shadowed regions at the lunar south pole. This water could be utilized for drinking water or fuel as humanity continues to expand the boundaries of space exploration in the future.

Author: OpenAI