ANTARIKSA — The Japanese lunar lander SLIM landed on the Moon on Friday, January 19, 2024, evening. However, it is not yet clear whether the vehicle survived the historic maneuver.
The robotic spacecraft hit the gray soil of the Moon as expected at 10:20 a.m. EST, or 10 p.m. WIB. However, this is all that is known at the moment.
“From the telemetry, what we see is that SLIM has landed. “We are checking its status,” a spokesperson for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said shortly after landing.
JAXA will hold a press conference this Saturday. “At an unspecified time, to provide the latest information on the condition of the lander,” the commentator said during the live broadcast of the landing.
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If the SLIM landing was successful, Japan would be the fifth country to land on the Moon. Other countries were the Soviet Union, the United States, China and India.
The landing seemed to go smoothly, SLIM achieved several records during its descent to the moon. However, JAXA could not immediately confirm the status of the lander. So we have to wait for the update.
SLIM stands for Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) and aims to land within 100 meters of the target position on the edge of Shioli crater. For this reason he was nicknamed the “Sniper of the Moon”.
SLIM also aims to demonstrate that small, relatively cheap spacecraft are capable of impressive exploration. The probe weighs just 200 kilograms without propellant, and the mission cost about $120 million to develop.
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THIN mission
If the probe survives the landing attempt, SLIM will study its surroundings, an area of the Nectaris Sea located about 15 degrees south of the lunar equator. For that mission he carried a spectrometer with him. Instrumental data will reveal the composition of the area, which in turn could explain the formation and evolution of the moon.
If all goes according to plan, SLIM will also deploy two small rover robots; LEV-1 and LEV-2. LEV is short for Lunar Excursion Vehicle.
The LEV-1 is designed to leap across the lunar surface, while the ball-shaped LEV-2 will separate into two parts and crawl around the landing site. The two little robots will collect their own data and take photos, including images of the SLIM mothership. Source: Space.com
2024-01-19 19:23:00
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