Tokyo – Photos that could be the last of Japan’s historic moon landing mission have been released, but Japan’s Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has confirmed that it will not be able to revive the spacecraft after the lunar night. He said he did not know if it would be possible.
The Lunar Exploration Mission Smart Lander (SLIM for short) landed upside down on the moon’s surface on January 19th. Due to its orientation, the solar cell is not pointed directly at the sun.
This has restricted operators from using the lander, and it remains unclear whether the spacecraft can withstand temperatures above 200 degrees Celsius. -200 degrees Fahrenheit for more than two weeks.
Unlike Earth, the Moon takes a full month to complete one rotation, and one side of the natural satellite experiences lunar days and the other side experiences lunar nights.
Despite the mission’s limitations, JAXA called the effort a success and said dozens of images from poorly understood regions of the moon still need to be analyzed.
“Based on the vast amount of data we have obtained so far, we are proceeding with analyzes aimed at identifying rocks and estimating the chemical composition of minerals, which will lead to solving the mystery of the origin of the moon. We will make an announcement as soon as possible.” JAXA said in a statement:.
Photos show Japan’s lunar lander hit its target, albeit upside down
Japan becomes the fifth country to land on the moon, a mission that has been difficult for even the most experienced space programs and marked by spectacular failures.
In January, US-based Astrobotics attempted to land its Peregrine spacecraft on the moon’s surface. The mission was a failure, and the civilian lunar module burst into flames in Earth’s atmosphere.
NASA’s human landing program, known as the Artemis mission, was scheduled to land on the moon in 2025, but was recently pushed back to at least 2026 or 2027 due to various development issues.
In 2023, A Japanese company known as ispace, Inc.failed to land on the moon due to a clear miscalculation.
See what humans left behind on the moon
The next U.S. rover launch could come as early as November, when NASA launches a polar rover aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The rover will explore the moon’s south pole during its 100-day mission.
The space agency said the data is important in determining the distribution of water on the lunar body and will help determine the resources available for future human space exploration.
The United States remains the only country to land a man on the moon.