Japan's Moon Vehicle Lands Successfully but Is Losing Power
2024-01-20
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1Japan on Friday became the fifth country to land a spacecraft on the moon.
2The mission's aim was to carry out an exact landing and to collect information about the Earth's only natural satellite.
3Japan's space agency, known as JAXA, said its Smart Lander for Investigating the Moon, called SLIM, landed on the moon's surface at 15:20 UTC Friday.
4It then re-established communication with Earth.
5But its solar panels were not able to create electricity, possibly because they are pointed in the wrong direction.
6"SLIM is now operating only on its battery, and we are prioritizing the transfer of its data to Earth," Hitoshi Kuninaka, the head of JAXA's research center, told reporters.
7A battery is a device that stores electricity.
8Space officials are attempting to save power by turning off equipment like its heaters.
9But SLIM's battery only lasts "a few hours."
10JAXA hopes a change in the sun's position in the sky will cause the panels to receive sunlight to power the vehicle, Kuninaka said.
11He added that it takes 30 days for the direction of sunlight to change on the moon.
12SLIM attempted to land within 100 meters of its target, instead of within several kilometers.
13JAXA said this exact landing technology will become a powerful tool in the search for oxygen, fuel, and water on the moon.
14Japan aims to play a bigger part in space, partnering with ally the United States.
15Japan is also home to several private space companies.
16JAXA aims to send an astronaut to the moon as part of NASA's Artemis program in the next few years.
17But the Japanese space agency has recently faced several setbacks in rocket development.
18They include the launch failure in March of its new H3 rocket which is meant to compete with rockets made by private companies like SpaceX.
19The failure caused delays in Japan's space missions, including SLIM and joint moon exploration with India.
20India made a historic landing on the moon's most southern point with its Chandrayaan-3 probe.
21JAXA has twice landed on asteroids, but the moon's gravity makes landing on it more difficult, its scientists said.
22Three missions to the moon by Japanese company ispace, Russia's space agency, and American company Astrobotic have failed in the past year.
23Only four nations, the former Soviet Union, the United States, China and India, have successfully carried out a soft landing on the moon. No private company has been able to do it.
24SLIM measures 2.4 meters by 2.7 meters-about the size of a car.
25It has two main engines, along with 12 smaller thrusters.
26It also includes equipment like solar cells, radar, and cameras.
27SLIM weighed 700 kilograms at launch.
28That is less than half the weight of India's Chandrayaan-3.
29As the probe got closer to the surface, it was designed to compare its camera's images with satellite photos of the moon.
30JAXA has said this method permits an exact landing.
31On landing, reports say SLIM successfully released two small robot probes.
32One moves by taking small jumps, or hops.
33The other is an even smaller baseball-sized wheeled vehicle.
34Sony Group and toy company Tomy, and several Japanese universities developed the robots.
35SLIM was launched on Japan's H-IIA rocket in September.
36It has taken a fuel-saving four-month trip to the moon.
37I'm Gregory Stachel.
1Japan on Friday became the fifth country to land a spacecraft on the moon. The mission's aim was to carry out an exact landing and to collect information about the Earth's only natural satellite. 2Japan's space agency, known as JAXA, said its Smart Lander for Investigating the Moon, called SLIM, landed on the moon's surface at 15:20 UTC Friday. It then re-established communication with Earth. But its solar panels were not able to create electricity, possibly because they are pointed in the wrong direction. 3"SLIM is now operating only on its battery, and we are prioritizing the transfer of its data to Earth," Hitoshi Kuninaka, the head of JAXA's research center, told reporters. 4A battery is a device that stores electricity. 5Space officials are attempting to save power by turning off equipment like its heaters. But SLIM's battery only lasts "a few hours." 6JAXA hopes a change in the sun's position in the sky will cause the panels to receive sunlight to power the vehicle, Kuninaka said. He added that it takes 30 days for the direction of sunlight to change on the moon. 7SLIM attempted to land within 100 meters of its target, instead of within several kilometers. JAXA said this exact landing technology will become a powerful tool in the search for oxygen, fuel, and water on the moon. 8Landings on the moon 9Japan aims to play a bigger part in space, partnering with ally the United States. Japan is also home to several private space companies. JAXA aims to send an astronaut to the moon as part of NASA's Artemis program in the next few years. 10But the Japanese space agency has recently faced several setbacks in rocket development. They include the launch failure in March of its new H3 rocket which is meant to compete with rockets made by private companies like SpaceX. 11The failure caused delays in Japan's space missions, including SLIM and joint moon exploration with India. India made a historic landing on the moon's most southern point with its Chandrayaan-3 probe. 12JAXA has twice landed on asteroids, but the moon's gravity makes landing on it more difficult, its scientists said. Three missions to the moon by Japanese company ispace, Russia's space agency, and American company Astrobotic have failed in the past year. 13Only four nations, the former Soviet Union, the United States, China and India, have successfully carried out a soft landing on the moon. No private company has been able to do it. 14SLIM measures 2.4 meters by 2.7 meters-about the size of a car. It has two main engines, along with 12 smaller thrusters. It also includes equipment like solar cells, radar, and cameras. 15SLIM weighed 700 kilograms at launch. That is less than half the weight of India's Chandrayaan-3. 16As the probe got closer to the surface, it was designed to compare its camera's images with satellite photos of the moon. JAXA has said this method permits an exact landing. 17On landing, reports say SLIM successfully released two small robot probes. One moves by taking small jumps, or hops. The other is an even smaller baseball-sized wheeled vehicle. Sony Group and toy company Tomy, and several Japanese universities developed the robots. 18SLIM was launched on Japan's H-IIA rocket in September. It has taken a fuel-saving four-month trip to the moon. 19I'm Gregory Stachel. 20Kantaro Komiya reported this story for Reuters. Gregory Stachel adapted it for VOA Learning English. 21_________________________________________________ 22Words in This Story 23mission - n. a flight by an aircraft or spacecraft to perform a specific task 24solar panel - n. a large, flat piece of equipment that uses the sun's light or heat to create electricity 25prioritize - v. to organize (things) so that the most important thing is done or dealt with first 26transfer - v. to move (data or money) from one place to another electronically 27probe - n. a device that is used to obtain information from outer space and send it back to Earth 28toy - n. something a child plays with