The Japanese space agency JAXA announced that the Japanese space probe SLIM (Lunar Exploration Intelligent Landing Vehicle), which landed on the surface of the moon on January 20, began its work, but had to be stopped for a period of time due to problems with the power supply after landing. Monday.
Send the first photos taken on the moon
“SLIM was contacted last night and is working again,” the agency reported Monday on social media. They added that the probe's multi-range camera began recording and sent the first images.
On January 20, the SLIM probe landed on the surface of the moon in the planned location, with high precision, but it tilted to one side during the landing, and its solar cells were not facing the sun, and since they could not supply it with energy, that was the case. Turn off.
According to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, SLIM, which landed in a crater called Shiuli with a diameter of less than 300 meters, is currently examining the lunar surface and performing rock analyses.
Japan is the fifth country to reach the moon
Japan is the fifth country after the former Soviet Union, the United States, China and India to successfully land on the moon. The data collected by SLIM is also used for the US Artemis space program.
The goal of the program is for NASA to send a man to the moon again after more than 50 years.
However, at the beginning of January, the planned landing of NASA astronauts on the Moon was postponed to a later year, to September 2026.
