After a short two-day “awakening”, the Japanese probe SLIM, which reached the moon 14 days ago, is returning to “sleep”, and it is not known whether it will be possible to contact it again in two weeks.

On January 28, JAXA announced that it had successfully re-connected with the SLIM space module, which on January 19 made a high-precision landing of the satellite several meters from its intended target.

The Japanese space agency is no longer in contact with the SLIM probe, which no longer receives sunlight, so the solar panels can no longer function. The beams will reach SLIM again in 14 days, but it is not known if communication can be reactivated as the module was not designed to operate on cold lunar nights.

Due to a problem with the engine that occurred during the last tens of meters of descent, the module ended up in an inclined position on January 19 in the rocky lunar crater Shioli with a diameter of 300 meters. The connection was lost because the photovoltaic cells were no longer receiving sunlight due to the position of the probe.

Communication was restored – and on January 30 and 31, the SLIM probe also conducted scientific measurements.

The SLIM space module, which arrived on the moon on January 19, made a precision landing, which was one of the main objectives of the mission. The goal was to get within 100 meters of a specific point, and in the field positioning was achieved within a few meters of the target.

The Japanese say that the accuracy of the satellite is high, and although the data still needs to be analyzed, it can be estimated to be 3-4 meters from the target point, which is extraordinary.

Source AFP