Although Japan’s lunar lander has successfully landed on the Moon, the mission may only last a few hours due to issues with its solar power system.
But now, engineers are fighting to keep the mission alive. The craft’s solar cells will not produce electricity for reasons that are not fully understood at the time. Because of this, Slim is solely dependent on its batteries, which will eventually run out. Upon doing so, the craft will become quiet. It won’t be able to speak or receive commands.
Near an equatorial crater, the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (Slim) gently touched down on the lunar surface. With this accomplishment, the Asian nation joined the US, the Soviet Union, China, and India as the only other nation to soft-land on an Earthly satellite.
Right now, engineers are setting priorities for their work.
They are removing photos from the craft and turning off the heaters. Additionally, they are retrieving data that will indicate the effectiveness of the landing software.
If Slim does go silent, Japanese space agency (Jaxa) officials will not give up on it right away. There’s always a chance that the solar cells’ orientation has changed to make it possible for them to not see the Sun.
According to the officials, Slim might resurrect when light angles on the Moon shift.
