cua cà mau cua tươi sống cua cà mau bao nhiêu 1kg giá cua hôm nay giá cua cà mau hôm nay cua thịt cà mau cua biển cua biển cà mau cách luộc cua cà mau cua gạch cua gạch cà mau vựa cua cà mau lẩu cua cà mau giá cua thịt cà mau hôm nay giá cua gạch cà mau giá cua gạch cách hấp cua cà mau cua cốm cà mau cua hấp mua cua cà mau cua ca mau ban cua ca mau cua cà mau giá rẻ cua biển tươi cuaganic cua cua thịt cà mau cua gạch cà mau cua cà mau gần đây hải sản cà mau cua gạch son cua đầy gạch giá rẻ các loại cua ở việt nam các loại cua biển ở việt nam cua ngon cua giá rẻ cua gia re crab farming crab farming cua cà mau cua cà mau cua tươi sống cua tươi sống cua cà mau bao nhiêu 1kg giá cua hôm nay giá cua cà mau hôm nay cua thịt cà mau cua biển cua biển cà mau cách luộc cua cà mau cua gạch cua gạch cà mau vựa cua cà mau lẩu cua cà mau giá cua thịt cà mau hôm nay giá cua gạch cà mau giá cua gạch cách hấp cua cà mau cua cốm cà mau cua hấp mua cua cà mau cua ca mau ban cua ca mau cua cà mau giá rẻ cua biển tươi cuaganic cua cua thịt cà mau cua gạch cà mau cua cà mau gần đây hải sản cà mau cua gạch son cua đầy gạch giá rẻ các loại cua ở việt nam các loại cua biển ở việt nam cua ngon cua giá rẻ cua gia re crab farming crab farming cua cà mau
Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Space
  3. News

Japanese lander touches down on the moon, but suffers power glitch

By

A Japanese mission has succeeded in landing on the moon, but it likely won’t last for more than a day due to an issue with its solar cells. The Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM), from Japanese space agency JAXA, is the second mission in a week to have trouble attempting to land on the moon, showing that despite the Apollo landings occurring more than 50 years ago, lunar landings continue to be a major challenge.

Artist's illustration of the SLIM lander touching down on the moon.
Artist’s illustration of the SLIM lander touching down on the moon. JAXA

The SLIM lander entered orbit around the moon on December 25 last year and made its landing on Friday, January 19. The soft landing — meaning touching down under control on the surface — was successful, making Japan the fifth country to achieve this feat. A video released last year by JAXA shows the complex landing process that SLIM performed:

Japan to launch SLIM lunar lander to moon! See the mission animation

“SLIM has been communicated to the Earth station, and it is receiving commands from the Earth accurately. The spacecraft is responding to these in a normal way,” said Hitoshi Kuninaka, Director General of the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science – JAXA, in a press conference following the landing attempt. “However, it seems that the solar cell is not generating electricity at this point in time. Since we are not able to generate electricity, the operation is being done using battery.”

Recommended Videos

Unfortunately, only a small amount of battery power is available, which will run out within a day. That means the mission will likely soon end unless the sun’s movement allows the solar cells to charge.

Related

While hovering over the moon’s surface, the lander separated two tiny rovers, LEV-1 and LEV-2, and JAXA was able to receive telemetry data from LEV-1. However, LEV-2 relays its data via the lander, so it won’t be able to communicate once the power runs out.

Still, JAXA will attempt to take as many measurements as possible in the limited time before the battery dies. “We are making efforts to maximize the scientific achievement,” Kuninaka said.

JAXA said it hopes to release more information on the status of the mission and its findings next week, including information on the issue with the solar cells.

Editors’ Recommendations

Topics
Georgina Torbet
Georgina Torbet
Space Writer
Georgina has been the space writer at Digital Trends space writer for six years, covering human space exploration, planetary…
These 3 companies are developing NASA’s new moon vehicle
An artist’s concept design of NASA’s Lunar Terrain Vehicle.

NASA has big plans for the moon -- not only sending people back to the moon for the first time in over 50 years but also having them investigate the exciting south pole region, where water is thought to be available. The plan is not just for astronauts to visit for a day or two, but to have them stay on the moon for weeks at a time, exploring the surrounding area. And to explore, they can't just travel on foot -- they'll need a new moon buggy.

Today, Wednesday, April 3, NASA announced the three companies developing its new lunar vehicle: Intuitive Machines, Lunar Outpost, and Venturi Astrolab. They'll each develop a lunar terrain vehicle (LTV) that can carry astronauts from their landing site across the moon's surface, allowing them to range further and reach more areas of interest.

Read more
NASA astronauts will try to grow plants on the moon
An artist’s concept of an Artemis astronaut deploying an instrument on the lunar surface.

An artist’s concept of an Artemis astronaut deploying an instrument on the lunar surface. NASA

It was almost a decade ago when astronauts aboard the International Space Station sat down for a meal of historical significance as it was the first to include food -- albeit only lettuce -- grown and harvested in space.

Read more
Meet NASA’s trio of mini moon rovers set to launch next year
Part of NASA’s CADRE technology demonstration, three small rovers that will explore the Moon together show off their ability to drive as a team autonomously – without explicit commands from engineers – during a test in a clean room at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in December 2023.

NASA is ramping up its plans for exploring the moon, not only in terms of preparing to send astronauts there but also rovers. There's the VIPER rover, which will search for water around the lunar south pole, and now NASA is introducing a trio of mini rovers called CADRE, or Cooperative Autonomous Distributed Robotic Exploration. These will work together as a team to map the lunar surface, testing the possibilities of using rovers in groups for future exploration.

The rovers, developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, are just the size of a carry-on suitcase. They are designed to move independently but share data so they can cover more ground than a single rover could. They'll have to work over a lunar day, which is about two weeks, to map out features on the surface and look below ground using radar.

Read more