Disruption due to inability to receive light from some solar panels
Japanese lander ‘Slim’ resumes communication
Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus (Nova-C), the first private company to successfully land on the moon, is scheduled to end its mission early on the 27th (local time). It’s been 5 days since we landed on the moon. This is because Odysseus fell when landing and part of the solar panel was blocked from sunlight, causing operational problems. On the other hand, Japan’s lunar lander ‘Slim’, which entered sleep mode last month, has temporarily resumed communication, causing mixed emotions in the United States and Japan.
On the 26th, Intuitive Machines said, “We will transmit data until the lander’s solar panel is no longer exposed to sunlight,” and added, “(The end of the mission) is expected to be Tuesday morning.”
Originally, Intuitive Machines planned to carry out the mission for 9 to 10 days. However, when landing on the moon, one of Odysseus’ legs tripped over a stone and some of the solar panels were blocked from receiving sunlight. The mission period was shortened by two to three days due to problems with the energy supply needed to operate the lander.
A photo of the landing site of ‘Odysseus’ taken by NASA’s lunar orbiter from 90km above the moon. The millet-sized object casting a shadow in the area indicated by the arrow is Odysseus. Provided by NASA and Intuitive MachinesWhen landing, part of the antenna was pointed toward the moon rather than the Earth, slowing down data transmission. For this reason, to date, not a single photo taken by Odysseus on the lunar surface has been released. However, Intuitive Machines released a photo taken at the time of landing taken by a camera located on the right rear side of Odysseus.
On the other hand, Japan’s lunar lander ‘Slim’, which successfully landed on the moon on the 20th of last month, succeeded in resuming communication on the 25th. The moon changes between day and night in a 14-day cycle, and Slim is known to have stopped working during a moon night when temperatures drop to -130 degrees Celsius. However, on the 25th, communication was temporarily resumed. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) plans to determine whether continuous communication is possible in the future.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.