Current:Home > InvestRise and shine: Japanese moon probe back to work after sun reaches its solar panels-InfoLens
Rise and shine: Japanese moon probe back to work after sun reaches its solar panels
View Date:2025-01-11 05:01:23
TOKYO (AP) — A Japanese moon explorer is up and running Monday after several tense days without the sunlight it needs to generate power.
Japan’s first lunar mission hit its target in a precision touchdown on Jan. 20, but landed the wrong way up, leaving its solar panels unable to see the sun.
But with the dawn of the lunar day, it appears that the probe has power.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, said Monday that it successfully established communication with the probe Sunday night, and the craft has resumed its mission, taking pictures of the Moon’s surface and transmitting them to the Earth.
After a last-minute engine failure caused the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon, or SLIM, to make a rougher-than-planned landing, JAXA used battery power to gather as much data as possible about the touchdown and the probe’s surroundings. The craft was then turned off to wait the sun to rise higher in the lunar sky in late January.
With power, SLIM has continued work to analyze the composition of olivine rocks on the lunar surface with its multi-band spectral camera, seeking clues about the Moon’s origin and evolution, the agency said. Earlier observations suggest that the moon may have formed when the Earth hit another planet.
A black-and-white photo posted by JAXA on social media showed the rocky lunar surface, including a rock the agency said it had named “Toy Poodle” after seeing it in initial images. The probe is analyzing six rocks, all of which have been given the names of dog breeds.
SLIM is expected to have enough sun to continue operations for several earth days, possibly until Thursday. JAXA said it’s not clear if the craft will work again after another severely cold lunar night.
The SLIM landed about 55 meters (60 yards) away from its target, in between two craters near the Shioli crater, a region covered in volcanic rock. Previous moon missions have typically aimed for flat areas at least 10 kilometers (6 miles) wide.
SLIM carried two autonomous probes, which were released just before touchdown, recording the landing, surroundings and other lunar data.
The landing made Japan the world’s fifth country to reach the moon surface, after the United States, the Soviet Union, China and India.
veryGood! (51)
Related
- Democrat George Whitesides wins election to US House, beating incumbent Mike Garcia
- Get Your Summer Essentials at Athleta & Save Up to 60% off, Plus an Extra 30% on New Sale Styles
- Florida woman charged with leaving her boyfriend to die in a suitcase faces October trial
- Costco issues recall for some Tillamook cheese slices that could contain 'plastic pieces'
- Man charged with murder in fatal shooting of 2 workers at Chicago’s Navy Pier
- Internet group sues Georgia to block law requiring sites to gather data on sellers
- Driver who caused fiery crash that claimed 4 lives sentenced to prison
- Teenager who killed 4 in Michigan high school shooting appeals life sentence
- Quincy Jones' Cause of Death Revealed
- Boston Pride 2024: Date, route, how to watch and stream Pride parade
Ranking
- Indiana man is found guilty of murder in the 2017 killings of 2 teenage girls
- Biden apologizes to Ukrainian President Zelenskyy for holdup on military aid: We're still in
- Nick Cannon Shares the Worst Father's Day Present He Ever Got & Tips to Step Up Your Gift Giving
- The best-looking SUVs you can buy today
- Horoscopes Today, November 12, 2024
- Black D-Day combat medic’s long-denied medal tenderly laid on Omaha Beach where he bled, saved lives
- Police seek tips after missing Georgia woman's skeletal remains found in Tennessee
- Who are the highest-paid players in the WNBA? A list of the top 10 salaries in 2024.
Recommendation
-
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones responds to CeeDee Lamb's excuse about curtains at AT&T Stadium
-
California man arrested after police say he shot at random cars, killing father of 4
-
Missing 21-year-old woman possibly with man and his missing 2-year-old daughter
-
The Brat Pack met the Rat Pack when Andrew McCarthy, Rob Lowe partied with Sammy Davis Jr.
-
The USDA is testing raw milk for the avian flu. Is raw milk safe?
-
Bravo's Captain Lee Rosbach Reveals Shocking Falling Out With Carl Radke After Fight
-
Teen Mom's Kailyn Lowry Shares Rare Photo With Ex Jo Rivera for Son Isaac's Graduation
-
New charges for alleged Gilgo Beach serial killer cast scrutiny on another man’s murder conviction