Japan has become the fifth country to successfully land its rover on the lunar surface of the Moon. However, all is not well after the Japan’s Mission Moon landing.
Japan finally joined the United States, China, India, and the Soviet Union on the Moon and became the fifth nation to land on the Moon. Like most other countries, Japan’s Mission Moon is also based on the purpose of exploring the Moon.
The Smart Lander for Investigating Moon, also known as SLIM, touched down on the lunar surface at 12:20 a.m. Saturday, Japanese time. The landing went exactly as planned. However, there were a few other issues.
According to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the solar panels on SLIM are not functioning properly. JAXA also points out that the lander only has power backup for a few hours. Once the power is discharged, the Japan Mission Moon may stop – BBC
Therefore, the agency is trying to capture as much data as possible. However, they hope the panel may start working once the sun changes its direction.
What are the reasons Japan’s Mission to the Moon failed?
It is too early to say that Japan’s Mission to the Moon has failed. For now, everything is okay, and the agency is downloading the details they were looking for. So, it’s not over now, as the lander still has some power to transfer important details.
However, the power will not last longer than a couple of hours. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) believes that the solar panel can still charge the battery once the sun changes its position.
The possible reason behind power supply problems with SLIM is that the panel may be damaged. However, the panel was functional during the flight, so other problems may have occurred as well.
Japan’s History on the Moon
It was Japan’s 3rd mission on the Moon. They tried to land on the Moon in 1990 as the third country to send a spacecraft to lunar orbit. Japan’s 1990 mission was unsuccessful due to a crash. However, they sent a moon probe in 2007 and curated detailed maps of the North Pole and South Pole.
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