At midnight this Friday, Japan
became the
fifth country to reach the Moon
, after the successful landing of its Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) probe on the surface of the natural satellite.
However, the mission is at serious risk since its solar panels
stopped generating power
and it is running on its backup batteries, which will only last a few hours, according to officials from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). acronym in English).
“The SLIM has been communicating correctly and is responding normally.
However, it appears that its solar cells are not generating electricity," JAXA CEO Hitoshi Kuninaka explained at a press conference about two hours after the moon landing.
Kuninaka commented that it is possible that if the panels manage to absorb solar energy again, they could be recharged, so they continue to monitor the information it is transmitting.
If that happens, it will be able to join
new missions to explore the Moon
in search of water and other resources and improve the exploration of other planets and satellites in the Solar System.
The module sought to touch the lunar surface within a radius of about 100 meters from the Shioli crater, close to the lunar equator.
The SLIM the lunar surface at 00:20 local Japanese time on Saturday, January 20 after a 20-minute descent.
Until today,
only four countries had achieved it
: the United States, the former Soviet Union, China and India.
The module sought to touch the lunar surface within a radius of about 100 meters from the Shioli crater, close to the lunar equator, with unprecedented precision until now.
Kuninaka detailed that the LEV-1 and LEV-2 vehicles attached to the module were properly separated from the matrix during the descent, and the images they captured of the lunar surface are being transmitted, which, together with the success of the SLIM moon landing itself Despite the energy problems, he considered it a
"minimal success."
"Japan has set an important milestone, so I think this has been a big step forward," he added.
"We will continue to send more spacecraft," Hitoshi Kuninaka, CEO of JAXA.
The main objective of SLIM was to test the realization of a "pinpoint" landing, or precision/localized, in a radius of 100 meters around the Shioli crater, close to the lunar equator, a precision unprecedented until now.
The Japanese aerospace agency estimates that it will take a month to confirm whether this objective has been met.
"We will continue to send more spacecraft," Kuninaka added.
"The moon landing itself has been a success, so
I think we must continue working on the development of this technology," said the president of JAXA, Hiroshi Yamakawa.
The result of the mission has a bittersweet taste for Japan, which had already made several failed lunar landing attempts before today's, and seeks to expand its presence and competitiveness in the global aerospace panorama.