The Japan Aerospace Research Agency (JAXA) has confirmed that his “Lander” SLIM (Smart lander for exploring the moon) successfully landed on the lunar surface on January 20, 2024 at 0:20 JST (Japan Time: 16:20 Spanish Peninsula Time on January 19) and that communication with the spacecraft was established after landing.
However, “the power supply to the solar cells could not be confirmed,” emphasizes JAXA in its statement social networks“And If the battery level is 12%, the battery is disconnected (as intended) to avoid failure to restart a recovery operation due to over-discharge; So SLIM was turned off at 2:57 JST on the same day it arrived on the Moon.
“According to the telemetry data – explains the Japanese agency – these are SLIM solar cells facing west. So when sunlight shines on the lunar surface from the west, there is an opportunity to generate energy and we are preparing for recovery. The ship can only be operated with energy from solar cells.”
Until the power was switched off after landing, that was technical data and image data The data collected during the descent and on the lunar surface were successfully transmitted, emphasizes JAXA, which will continue to report on the status of the spacecraft in the coming days.
“Although the attitude or The pitch after landing wasn't what we plannedWe are happy that we were able to achieve so much and are happy about it landed successfully -he emphasizes-. And we are also looking forward to analyzing the data.”
In the broadcast of the lunar landing organized by JAXA, one could see that the telemetry indicated that SLIM had landed on the moon, but confirmation that everything had worked 100% was a long time coming. Two hours later, after an initial analysis of the data, those responsible appeared at a press conference.
It was when the general director of JAXA, Hitoshi Kuninaka detailed that the LEV-1 and LEV-2 vehicles attached to the module, properly separated from the array during descent, and the images of the lunar surface taken by them were transmitted; This, along with the moon landing, was considered a “minimal success” at the time, despite the energy problems.
The result has one sweet and sour taste for Japan, which has already made several failed lunar landing attempts and wants to expand its presence and competitiveness in the global aerospace panorama.
Five countries that managed to land on the moon
In any case, despite the problem with the solar panels and the ship's power, on that moon landing Japan They are the fifth country in the world to achieve this. So far, only the United States, Russia, China and India have managed to successfully land on Earth's satellite, although only some (the United States) have carried astronauts.
For decades it was the main goal of the space race between the United States and the then Soviet Union, ships from other countries and space agencies (Israel, Japan, the United Arab Emirates or the European Union) also traveled there, although they did not land on the moon (because they didn't have that goal) or they failed.
Although that was it The Soviet Union was the first to arrive by ship The first astronauts to set foot on the moon were near him Americans Neil Armstrong and Edwin Eugene Aldring in 1969, and since then another ten, all from NASA, have returned as part of the successive “Apollo” missions that lasted until 1972.
In addition, the United States has conducted a total of 17 unmanned missions to the moon. On November 16, 2022, it returned with the unmanned Artemis I mission to test and measure NASA's technological capabilities to resume lunar exploration and subsequent deployment of astronauts.
It recently announced that it will postpone to 2025 the manned Artemis II mission, which must fly over the moon, and to 2026 Artemis III, which will send astronauts to its surface for the first time in more than 50 years.
Russian lunar probe in the late 1950s
Since 1959, when the Soviet Union managed to orbit the satellite with its probe Moon-1This country (later Russia) has sent about sixty missions, some manned (those of the Soyuz project) and others unmanned (those of the Luna and Zond programs).
The Russian lunar probes arrived several times, most recently in January 1973 with the Luna-21 space probe, which managed to place the vehicle on the lunar soil. Lunochod. 1976 the ship Moon-24th ended the series of unmanned lunar explorations.
And although Russian President Vladimir Putin announced his intention to restart the program last year, his Luna-25 spacecraft failed in its mission to explore the South Pole when it crashed to the surface.
China joined this race in 2007 when it launched the “Chang'e I“, named after the Chinese goddess of the moon. On March 3, 2009, and after a year in lunar orbit, it completed its mission by impacting the lunar surface.
Chinese seeds on the moon
On December 14, 2013, Chang'e-3 achieved a controlled landing and became the first Chinese mission to reach the Moon; In 2019, Chang'e-4 managed to land on the other side of the satellite. This milestone mission also managed to germinate a seed on Earth's satellite for the first time in one of its experiments.
In January 2020, China successfully launched Chang'e-5 with a mission to collect samples from the visible side of the satellite and returned to Earth with lunar rocks on December 17, 2020. This made China the third country to achieve this, after the United States and Russia.
Last year, with Chandrayaan-3, India became the fourth country to reach the unexplored lunar south pole and the first to do so. Now Japan is joining in with its ship SLIM The country quintet managed to land on our satellite.
