Daichi Hirano, Hitoshi Kuninaka, Shinichiro Sakai and Masatsugu Otsuki of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) smile in front of a screen showing an image taken by LEV-2 of the Moon, following their press conference on the SLIM lunar landing mission, in Tokyo, Japan, January 25, 2024. Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters
TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s space agency said Thursday that its first lunar mission landed on the small piece of lunar surface it was aiming for in a successful demonstration of its precision landing system — even though the probe appeared to be lying upside down .
Japan became the fifth country in history to reach the moon when the Smart Lander for Lunar Exploration, or SLIM, landed on the moon early Saturday. But problems with the probe’s solar arrays initially made it difficult to tell whether the probe had landed in the target area.
While most previous probes have used landing zones about 10 kilometers (six miles) wide, SLIM was aiming for a target just 100 meters (330 feet) wide. The improved accuracy will give scientists access to more of the Moon as probes can be placed closer to obstacles.
One of the lander’s main engines lost thrust about 50 meters (54 yards) above the lunar surface, causing a harder-than-planned landing.
A pair of autonomous probes launched by SLIM before Touchtown sent back images of the box-shaped vehicle on the surface, although it appeared to be upside down.
After several days of data analysis, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, determined that the spacecraft landed about 55 meters (60 yards) from its target, between two craters near Shioli Crater, a region covered in volcanic rock.
But after the landing accident, the ship’s solar panels turned the wrong way and it can’t generate power. Officials said there is still hope that the probe will be able to recharge when the moon enters its day in the coming days.
JAXA project manager Shinichiro Sakai said the images sent back were just like what he had imagined and seen in computer imaging.
The Intelligent Lander for Exploration of the Moon (SLIM) is seen in this handout image taken by LEV-2 on the Moon, released on January 25, 2024. Photo by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), TAKARA TOMY, Sony Group, University It came via REUTERS
“Something we designed traveled all the way to the moon and took this snapshot. I almost fell over when I saw it,” he said. For the exact landing, Sakai said, he would give SLIM a “perfect score.”
“We’ve demonstrated that we can land wherever we want,” Sakai said. “We have opened the door to a new era.”
LEV-1, a hopping robot equipped with an antenna and camera, was tasked with recording SLIM’s landing and transmitting images back to earth. LEV-2 is a baseball-sized rover equipped with two cameras, developed by JAXA in collaboration with Sony, toy maker Tomy Co. and Doshisha University.
The two autonomous probes frame and select images independently, both using LEV-1’s antenna to send them back to base.
Daichi Hirano, a JAXA scientist who designed LEV-2, also known as Sora-Q, said he selected images containing SLIM and the nearby lunar surface and transmitted the images through LEV-1, making the pair the world’s first. mission accomplished. Despite the rush, the probes captured and transmitted 275 images.
Japan followed the United States, the Soviet Union, China and India to reach the surface of the Moon.
The project is the fruit of two decades of precision technology work by JAXA.
JAXA has experience with hard landings. Its Hayabusa2 spacecraft, launched in 2014, touched down twice on the 900-meter (3,000-foot) asteroid Ryugu, collecting samples that were returned to Earth.
Dubbed the “Lunar Sniper,” SLIM was intended to search for clues about the Moon’s origins, including analyzing minerals with a special camera.
SLIM was launched on a Mitsubishi Heavy H2A rocket in September. It first circled the Earth and entered lunar orbit on December 25.
Japan is hoping to regain confidence in its space technology after a series of setbacks. A spacecraft designed by a Japanese company crashed during an attempt to land on the moon in April, and a new flagship rocket failed to debut in March.
Left:
Daichi Hirano, Hitoshi Kuninaka, Shinichiro Sakai and Masatsugu Otsuki of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) smile in front of a screen showing an image taken by LEV-2 of the Moon, following their press conference on the SLIM lunar landing mission, in Tokyo, Japan, January 25, 2024. Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters
