Japan's lunar lander is dying before our eyes after setting down on Moon
Japan's lunar lander is dying before our eyes after setting down on Moon
It was a very Kerbal landing technique they were attempting, got to respect them for attempting new things even when it's their first try at a lander.
Last I heard, speculation was that the solar panels were pointing to the west and so it might "wake up" again later in the Lunar day when the Sun gets past zenith. They landed in Lunar morning to maximize the usable duration of sunlight, so right now the panels would be pointed directly away from it.
Kerbal landing technique? Like smashing into the surface max speed because you somehow managed to decouple your only engine due to poor preplanning? At least that's how I play it.
In this case, the landing legs were on the "side" of the probe. It was supposed to come down to a halt hovering right above the surface and then flop over onto them.
Or my technique of landing... "Forgetting the chute with 0 fuel left" 😜
Yes, even smacking into Mun is an accomplishment when just starting out. That's as far as I ever got--hopefully Japan does better.
Kinda reminds me of this XKCD: https://xkcd.com/695/
I always have to look at this one after that.
Thank you. At least a happy end for the tough little rover.
Even Stanley Kubrick couldn't humanize technology like Randall Munroe.
That's actually heartbreaking
Damn, that makes me sad, at least it landed though!
Another display of how great NASA was back in the day. Before you wisecrack, remember Buzz Aldren can still punch you out, even at 93.
To be fair, NASA flubbed plenty of Moon landers too.
Don't threaten me with a good time.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
In a press conference officials at Japan's space agency JAXA confirmed SLIM is right now operating from its batteries and only has a few hours of power left.
In an attempt to keep the mission going, JAXA said it may turn off the batteries to reserve the probe's supplies, and switch them back on when sunlight is hitting the vehicle at a different angle.
Even if the probe doesn't last beyond the first day, JAXA says it has successfully executed the agency's first-ever soft landing, which is arguably the most difficult part of exploring the lunar surface.
Japan's first attempt ended in failure when ispace, a private company headquartered in Tokyo, crashed its Hakuto-R lunar lander last year in April.
Meanwhile, the first private, unmanned American Moon landing mission launched by Astrobotic on January 8 suffered a propellant leak as it was flying towards the natural satellite.
The ultimate goal of the SLIM mission was to test the accuracy of its lunar landing technology, and see whether it's possible to study the Moon in detail using smaller and lighter hardware.
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sings Daisy Bell in a Vocaloid voice
Should have had toyota build it, those things are unstoppable