TOKYO – Japan on Jan 20 became the fifth country to put a spacecraft on the Moon, but solar power issues threatened to cut short the nation’s mission to prove a precision-landing technology and revitalise a space programme that has suffered setbacks.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (Jaxa) said its Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (Slim) landed on the Moon’s surface at around 12.20am (11.20pm on Jan 19, Singapore time), but its solar panels were not able to generate electricity, possibly because they are angled wrongly.
Jaxa prioritised the transfer of Slim’s data to Earth as the probe relied only on its battery, which would last for “a few hours” despite “life-sustaining treatments” such as turning off its heater, Dr Hitoshi Kuninaka, the head of Jaxa’s research centre, told a press conference.
Reported by the Straits Times of Singapore
No comments:
Post a Comment