The Japan Aerospace Exploration Company shared the first image of its lander on the lunar surface, revealing that the spacecraft touched down on the moon upside-down.
It’s a remarkable recovery for the spacecraft, which experienced an “abnormality in the main engine” that affecting the landing orientation when it was just 50 meters above the lunar surface, JAXA said in an update Thursday.
Remarkably, the lander ended up just 55 meters east of the original target landing site.
The lander was carrying two rovers; one of the rovers, called Lunar Exploration Vehicle-2, or SORA-Q, is responsible for the photo.
The rovers were ejected from the spacecraft before landing.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Company shared the first image of its lander on the lunar surface, revealing that the spacecraft touched down on the moon upside-down.
It’s a remarkable recovery for the spacecraft, which experienced an “abnormality in the main engine” that affecting the landing orientation when it was just 50 meters above the lunar surface, JAXA said in an update Thursday.
Remarkably, the lander ended up just 55 meters east of the original target landing site.
The lander was carrying two rovers; one of the rovers, called Lunar Exploration Vehicle-2, or SORA-Q, is responsible for the photo.
The rovers were ejected from the spacecraft before landing.
Japan’s long-planned Smart Lander for Investigating Moon has successfully touched down on the lunar surface, making the nation the fifth in history to do so.
But all is not well for SLIM, which may have a limited lease on life due to trouble with its solar cells.
In a press conference following the early-morning (local time) landing on the Moon, the directors of JAXA and the mission explained that “The soft landing was itself successful; SLIM has been communicating and it receiving commands.
However, as the other sensors are working correctly and showing healthy values, they feel confident it is limited to the solar cells themselves.
The initial press conference was primarily to announce the initial success of a soft landing and functioning lunar lander.
