TOKYO: Japan’s space agency announced on Monday that it has concluded its Moon lander operation after losing contact with the uncrewed spacecraft last week.
The Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM), known as the “Moon Sniper” for its precision landing capabilities, touched down eight months ago, making Japan the fifth nation to achieve a soft lunar landing.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) reported on X (formerly Twitter) that efforts to re-establish communication with SLIM were unsuccessful after three lunar nights, or six cold weeks.
“We determined that there was no chance of restoring communication with SLIM, and at around 22:40 (1340 GMT) on August 23, we sent a command to cease SLIM’s activities,” JAXA stated, nearly a year after the mission’s launch.
SLIM had continued to transmit data on its status and surroundings for longer than anticipated. JAXA noted that the mission exceeded expectations in duration and functionality.
Although the unmanned lander successfully touched down in January, it landed at a skewed angle, causing its solar panels to face away from the sun. Despite this, SLIM revived for two days to conduct scientific observations of a lunar crater using a high-resolution camera.
The spacecraft, not designed to withstand the extreme cold of lunar nights, which plunge to minus 133 degrees Celsius, managed to operate again in April. SLIM carried two probes: one with a transmitter and a mini-rover that moved across the lunar surface, sending images back to Earth.
The mission’s goal was to study a section of the Moon’s mantle, typically found deep beneath the crust, at the crater where SLIM landed.
