Japan’s SLIM Spacecraft Lands on the Moon: What’s Next?

be successful! The Japanese spacecraft or “SLIM” has successfully landed on the moon. Becoming the fifth largest nation in the world, but we have to wait and see the energy of the ship.

On January 22, 2024, the National Astronomical Research Institute (NST) posted on the National Astronomical Research Institute (NARIT) page, stating that SLIM vessel by the Space Exploration Research and Development OrganizationJapan (JAXA) was sent to land on the surface.moonSuccessfully completed on January 19, 2024 at 10.20pm (Thailand time), this is the success of the Japanese space industry. Making Japan the fifth nation to successfully land a spacecraft on the Moon.

“Our first landing was successful,” JAXA President Yamagawa Hiroshi said during a news conference after the spacecraft landed. “We have arrived on the surface of the Moon. I believe the road to the lunar surface has begun.”

Other countries before Japan that successfully landed spacecraft on the Moon included the former Soviet Union and the United States. which launched its first successful spacecraft in the Cold War space race. China’s Chang’e 3 spacecraft landed in December 2013, and India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission completed its landing in August 2023.

However SLIM artisan mission I had a problem after landing. The spacecraft’s solar panels were unable to generate power as expected. If this problem is not resolved soon, the SLIM spacecraft will stop working if it is not recharged.

SLIM vessel (short for Smart Lander for Investigating Moon) launched into space in September 2023 with XRISM (Read it “Chrism”) Space Telescope in the X-ray Region The rocket launched XRISM into low Earth orbit shortly after launch, but the SLIM spacecraft had to travel a longer distance to reach the moon.

The spacecraft slowly adjusted its course toward the moon. Until the spacecraft enters orbit around the Moon in late December 2023, in the early period The spacecraft’s orbit around the Moon has a very elliptical shape. (Far from the lunar surface at an altitude of 600 – 4,000 kilometers)

On January 14, 2024, SLIM fired its rocket engines to create a circular orbit around the Moon. (Far from the lunar surface at an altitude of 600 kilometers) and prepares to enter the landing phase of the spacecraft. SLIM’s descent to the lunar surface began on January 19, with the launch of its rocket engines to support its maneuvers. Until the spacecraft orbited the Moon at an altitude of 15 kilometers and began the landing process at 10pm (Thailand time) until the landing was successful 20 minutes later.

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All seemed to be fine during the landing. The spacecraft was able to send signals to Earth at all times during its descent and after reaching the lunar surface, but JAXA was unable to confirm its status immediately after landing. It wasn’t until an hour later that JAXA issued a press release about the spacecraft’s mission. Along with further information that the vessel has been experiencing power issues. Problems with vehicle power: JAXA doesn’t know exactly why the solar panels weren’t working. But it is estimated that the aircraft did not suffer any damage during the landing. This is because the SLIM hardware remains intact and functions normally. It’s possible that the spacecraft didn’t orient its solar panels toward the Sun as expected.

The SLIM spacecraft aims to land within 100 meters of its target landing area.Shioli Crater This is considered an attempt to land the craft accurately. This is the basis for future Japanese lunar missions. It will take the JAXA mission team about a month to confirm SLIM’s landing accuracy results.

SLIM’s mission is also to demonstrate that it is possible to use a small, low-cost vehicle. It has the potential to explore the Moon. The SLIM vehicle has a mass of only 200 kilograms (excluding fuel), and the vehicle project budget is approximately 18,000 million yen (approximately 4,300 million baht).

Although SLIM is primarily intended to be a lander technology demonstrator, JAXA designed it to be able to conduct some sort of scientific exploration on the lunar surface. If there is no problem, solar panels do not rotate towards the sun to the point that they cannot produce energy. The mission will last about two weeks (about the length of a lunar day), as SLIM does not have a heating system to protect its electronic systems from the extremely cold nights on the Moon.

SLIM’s scientific investigation will focus on exploring the area surrounding the landing site. It is located at 13 degrees south latitude using spectral measurement equipment. The data will help evaluate the chemical composition of the lunar surface near the landing site. It can be used to study the birth and evolution of the Moon, but the SLIM spacecraft did not have the opportunity to explore it scientifically. Due to energy problems

The SLIM also carries two launch vehicles: LEV-1 a small craft that can jump to the surface of the moon; And LEV-2 A miniature robotic vehicle that can shrink into the shape of a ball (“LEV” for Lunar Excursion Vehicle), the two tiny robots will be launched from a mothership (SLIM) to collect some data and take photos of the lunar surface.

Vehicle status data shows that SLIM launched both LEV-1 and LEV-2 as planned, and as far as JAXA knows, LEV-1 is operational.

However, SLIM is not Japan’s first lunar lander. Japan sent JAXA’s small “OMOTENASHI” lander on the American Artemis 1 mission, which aims to launch Orion. (without carrying astronauts) to orbit the Moon and return to Earth. But mission control was unable to contact the aircraft. The Omotenashi was lost and the landing attempt was cancelled.

The second Japanese spacecraft to attempt to land on the Moon was Hakuto-R (Hakuto-R) On a mission “Hakuto-R Mission 1” (Hakuto-R Mission 1) built and operated by ispace, a private space technology company based in Tokyo. This spacecraft can enter orbit around the Moon. But the spacecraft’s computer system malfunctioned during landing. It ended up crashing into the moon. End of April 2023

Organized by: Phisit Nithiyanan – Astronomical Information Officer, DR

Reference: space

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