2024-08-27 20:57:33
Japan has declared the mission of the lunar probe “Slim” to be over. Communication with the probe is no longer possible, it says.
After almost eight months, the Japanese space agency Jaxa has ended the mission of the lunar probe “Slim”. Communication with the probe has not been possible since last week, Jaxa announced via the online service X. “We have come to the conclusion that restoring communication with ‘Slim’ has no prospect of success.”
“Slim” stands for “Smart Lander for Investigating Moon”. With the landing of the 2.40 meter by 1.70 meter probe on the Earth’s satellite at the beginning of January, Japan became the fifth lunar landing nation after the USA, the Soviet Union, China and India. Two previous Japanese lunar missions in 2022 and April 2023 had failed.
“Slim has been sending information about its status and surroundings for far longer than expected,” said the space agency Jaxa.
Shortly after its historic landing on the moon, the probe shut down due to problems with the power supply. “Slim” landed on its side during its lunar landing, so that the solar panels were pointing west instead of upwards as planned.
As a result, the device initially received very little sunlight. Almost two weeks later, “Slim” switched on again and the probe managed to transmit images of the moon’s surface to Earth.
The aim of the mission was to access rocks at the probe’s landing point in the Shioli crater that are normally hidden far below the lunar surface. These rocks could provide information about possible water occurrences on the moon.
The data collected on the moon should be used as part of the Artemis program led by the USA. With this program, NASA wants to bring humans back to the moon after more than 50 years. The lunar landing mission “Artemis 3” is planned for September 2026.