Japan's SLIM moon lander snaps eerie photo — and it could be its last | Mashable.
Japan's moon lander snaps eerie photo — and it could be its last
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| JAXA's SLIM moon lander took one last photo of the lunar surface before nightfall, which will last about two weeks. Credit: JAXA / SLIM |
Japan's first moon mission has likely come to an end after a surprising late-game comeback, with the spacecraft taking one last photo of its surroundings before the deep-freeze of night.
The SLIM spacecraft, short for Smart Lander for Investigating the Moon, took the image with an onboard camera on Feb. 1, showing ominous shadows cast upon a slope of the Shioli crater, its landing site on the near side of the moon.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency — NASA's Japanese space counterpart known as JAXA — released the image three days after re-establishing contact with SLIM. The team had shut down the robotic spacecraft, which accidentally landed upside down, on Jan. 20 to conserve energy. Because SLIM's solar panels weren't pointing in the right direction, the lander was unable to generate power.
But mission controllers on Earth held out hope the sun's angle would change eventually, allowing them to reboot the lander. Nine days later, they got their wish, rousing SLIM from its sleep.
Since Monday, the spacecraft has analyzed rocks around the crater with a multi-band spectral camera. JAXA picked the landing spot because of what it could tell scientists about the moon's formation. A leading theory is that the moon was created after something enormous collided with Earth. If that's true, much of the moon's mantle could be similar to Earth rock. Astronomers speculate that some ejected lunar mantle material could be found near the surface of the crater, providing samples for further research.
The special camera completed its planned observation, able to study more targets than originally expected, according to an English translation of a news release from the space agency.
"Based on the large amount of data we have obtained, we are proceeding with (analyses) to identify rocks and estimate the chemical composition of minerals, which will help solve the mystery of the origin of the moon," JAXA said in a statement translated by Google.
Though landing the spacecraft on its head wasn't part of the plan, the JAXA team said the mission accomplished its primary goal of a "pinpoint landing" — that is, one with an accuracy of less than 100 meters, or about 100 yards. Data confirmed the lander was at most 10 meters off its mark, according to space agency officials, which is comparable to 11 yards or less.
The spacecraft has now entered a dormant state, prompted by nightfall on the moon. Because one rotation of the moon is about 27 Earth days, the so-called "lunar night," when the moon is no longer receiving sunlight, lasts about two weeks.
Not much can survive the -270 degrees Fahrenheit brought on by darkness — not even robots. In this freezing temperature, soldered joints on hardware and mechanical parts break, and batteries die.
But rest assured, the JAXA team will try to communicate with its scrappy moon lander when the sun rises again.
"Although SLIM was not designed for the harsh lunar nights," JAXA said on X, formerly known as Twitter, "We plan to try to operate again from mid-February, when the Sun will shine again on SLIM’s solar cells."
Topics Innovations
Inside the moon there is a supercomputer the size 5m/5m incapsulated în glass, hundreds of millions years old, outside the moon, on the surface, there are solar pannels to function.
ReplyDeleteThe shape of a human brain.
DeleteNice picnic spot.
ReplyDeleteit landed on the moon's south pole then?
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DeleteI watch these cheap robotic battle shows for entertainment some times. It's pretty amazing the builders have in defensive and offensive designs. One feature I've seen from time to time is a gizmo for righting tipped over robots... which begs the question: why was a device for righting robots not included in the building of this robot? Someone must have put forth the scenario of what do the do if the robot lands in an orientation other than upright...
ReplyDeleteCost, weight, space, more complicated onboard devices that if the lander operates as designed, is just a waste. Every single space probe design is an assembly of compromises. In the early design stages, there's a lot of back and forth among scientists, engineers, and budget managers as to what ends up on the craft, and what gets left out. In spaceflight every ounce of weight, and every cc of space counts. Even something as simple as a few springloaded flipping arms could mean a scientific instrument gets the boot.
DeleteThese Japanese images of lunar surface have background that is computer simulated, only close area is real. Is it result of the technical problems in proper focusing during taking these images or there is some Convention to do this?
ReplyDeleteNot exactly sure what you mean by computer simulated, but if you are refering to the choppy edges of the photo, it looks that way because each image is a mosaic of a whole series of smaller images stitched together. You can get a good idea of the individual images by looking at the two narrow strips on the right side of the image with the labels. Each individual image overlaps the adjacent ones.
DeleteYou'll also notice in the lower left of the right image at the top, where the mosaic isn't blended well, likely due to a combination of poor focus and insufficient overlap.
Although it rarely shows, mosaics are very common in spacecraft and lander images. A camera that takes fairly high magnification pictures will have a narrower field of view. Building a wide field image via a mosaic, is a way to overcome this limit.
Fun Fact: With the old Mars Viking Landers, a photo was taken in thin strips, using a fixed camera and a moving mirror. A single wide angle image could take many minutes, as the camera scanned the landscape, strip by strip.
Hope this helps with your question.
Line of Horizon on the Moon is about 2.500 meters if you stay on the surface. Camera on SLIM was very low, possibly one feet from the ground, so Line of Horizon should be less than 1000 meters. Ridge of the Hills on background supposed to be " Over Horizon ". Nevertheless, no distinct contrast line on the image, no line of horizon. That's why background image looks " computer simulated ".
DeleteClose up view of rock makes me laugh. Since it virtually landed on its camera, every picture taken is going to be a close up!
ReplyDeleteI thought Slim died in 2000?
ReplyDeletePhotos Look worse than the Apollo 11 mission to the moon
ReplyDeleteCameras on Slim weren't designed for super-dooper-hi-res images. They were designed for searching for mineral composition of rocks on the nearby surface. Don't need Gnat's Axe level resolution for that purpose. Besides these images look like preliminary, minimally processed, releases to share with the public. We, the viewing public, typically see them as simply photos, when in fact, it's data that is later looked at in much greater detail, depending on what science is being done. The photo itself may not be as important as the data it contains, if that makes sense. When looking for minerals, how the various rocks refelct sunlight and at what specific wavelengths, is the primary objective, so super-dooper-hi-res shots aren't required.
DeleteAs for Apollo era cameras? Landing on the Moon was one of the, if not the biggest achievement in human history, so showing up with "meh," cameras wouldn't have been a good idea. While there'd been some previous lander images of the surface, (US Surveyor, and Soviet Luna programs) what the astronauts would find was still full of unknowns, so documenting the surface, and the event, in the best way possible was a priority. Keep in mind the whole modern world wanted to know what the surface looked like back then. Now? Another picture of the Moon's surface? Booooorrrring....
Hard to beat a medium format Hasselblad, Zeiss optics, and extra fine grain film.
DeleteLet me know if we find any alien life. Until then, bye bye
ReplyDeleteThe five “perfect circles” positioned like “dice”at the start of the cliff is what I’m curious about…
ReplyDeletehttps://imgur.com/a/NQcYtGl
ReplyDelete👌
ReplyDeleteI can see the lights of the city
ReplyDeleteIn the end, I won't say it!
ReplyDeleteThe black and white image overlaps with the last shot of Hayabusa...
Fans still believe in the miracle of SLIM 😤 .
This is God's realm.
There is also a shrine set up, so please take a shower and pray carefully to the god ⛩️ .
Then take a break and recharge your spirits.
I'm also going to Tsukuyomi no Mikoto Shrine.
I really want the Japanese to be successful in their moon missions. On the other hand, Bezos sues the Government in order to get Billions in Development Funds but hasn’t even yet made it to Orbit.
ReplyDeleteIt's all filmed on earth so they could.
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DeleteFlat earthers belong in zoos
DeleteAt that temperature human survived in 1969 that too upside down. Trtrtrtrttr trtrt.🤣🤣🤣🤣💦💦💦
ReplyDeletethats why they didnt pick just any old random spot and time to land...
Deletebless, you just pissed your pants. Lucky you wear a nappy to match your foil helmet.
DeleteSpace suit.
Delete"Based on the large amount of data we have obtained, we are proceeding with (analyses) to identify rocks and estimate the chemical composition of minerals, which will help solve the mystery of the origin of the moon," JAXA said in a statement translated by Google.
ReplyDeleteLol!!!! Please stop....I can't stop laughing!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🤣😂🤣😂🤣
ReplyDeleteThough landing the spacecraft on its head wasn't part of the plan, the JAXA team said the mission accomplished its primary goal of a "pinpoint landing" — that is, one with an accuracy of less than 100 meters, or about 100 yards. Data confirmed the lander was at most 10 meters off its mark, according to space agency officials, which is comparable to 11 yards or less.
ReplyDeleteThe spacecraft has now entered a dormant state, prompted by nightfall on the moon. Because one rotation of the moon is about 27 Earth days, the so-called "lunar night," when the moon is no longer receiving sunlight, lasts about two weeks.
Question for all you doubters: why would the lander be upside down?
ReplyDeleteTHIS IS SO AWESOME: Japan's SLIM mission though heartbreaking is A SUCCESSFUL FAILURE: "Since Monday, the spacecraft has analyzed rocks around the crater with a multi-band spectral camera. JAXA picked the landing spot because of what it could tell scientists about the moon's formation. A leading theory is that the moon was created after something enormous collided with Earth. If that's true, much of the moon's mantle could be similar to Earth rock. Astronomers speculate that some ejected lunar mantle material could be found near the surface of the crater, providing samples for further research.
ReplyDeleteThe special camera completed its planned observation, able to study more targets than originally expected, according to an English translation of a news release from the space agency. "
Photoshop.
ReplyDeleteA picture of the desert where this was really filmed
ReplyDeletein your mind.
DeleteNow Japan is lying too? So pathetic to be so willfully ignorant. 😂🤣😂
tell us the exact coordinates of where this was taken then
Deletesince you dont ban the flearthers im blocking you.
ReplyDeleteYet another fake "moon landing".
ReplyDeleteThe shut it down to limit what is shown to the public. More lies
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ReplyDeleteCan't believe that people still believe in this crap 😅😂🤣🤘
ReplyDeleteThe dimwits are out in force today...
ReplyDeleteNice movie
ReplyDeleteThat is my snapped pic, stolen by Japan
ReplyDeleteDoubtful
ReplyDeleteTHIS IS SO AWESOME: Japan's SLIM mission though heartbreaking is A SUCCESSFUL FAILURE: "Since Monday, the spacecraft has analyzed rocks around the crater with a multi-band spectral camera. JAXA picked the landing spot because of what it could tell scientists about the moon's formation. A leading theory is that the moon was created after something enormous collided with Earth. If that's true, much of the moon's mantle could be similar to Earth rock. Astronomers speculate that some ejected lunar mantle material could be found near the surface of the crater, providing samples for further research.
ReplyDeleteThe special camera completed its planned observation, able to study more targets than originally expected, according to an English translation of a news release from the space agency. "
"Based on the large amount of data we have obtained, we are proceeding with (analyses) to identify rocks and estimate the chemical composition of minerals, which will help solve the mystery of the origin of the moon," JAXA said in a statement translated by Google.
Though landing the spacecraft on its head wasn't part of the plan, the JAXA team said the mission accomplished its primary goal of a "pinpoint landing" — that is, one with an accuracy of less than 100 meters, or about 100 yards. Data confirmed the lander was at most 10 meters off its mark, according to space agency officials, which is comparable to 11 yards or less.
The spacecraft has now entered a dormant state, prompted by nightfall on the moon. Because one rotation of the moon is about 27 Earth days, the so-called "lunar night," when the moon is no longer receiving sunlight, lasts about two weeks.
The lander is expected to freeze during the 2 week lunar night reaching -270 degrees F, which is likely to cause damage to the craft such as soldering joints and electronics from which the lander might never recover.
Delete🤣🤣🤣
ReplyDelete