Image (Credit): Japan’s SLIM moon lander, as viewed by small rover LEV-2. (JAXA/Takara Tomy/Sony Group Corporation/Doshisha University)
If you were wondering about the status of the latest Japanese Moon mission, you can rest assured that the Smart Lander for Investigation Moon (SLIM) lander is now safe on the surface of the moon. It also had time to release two small Lunar Excursion Vehicle (LEV) rovers on the lunar surface.
Above is an image from one of those LEV rover’s showing a precariously placed lander. It appears to be standing on its head. Unfortunately, the solar panels are facing west rather than east, as planned.
As noted earlier, it is possible that the SLIM lander could get enough sunlight in the next few days to reactivate for a short period, but after that the lunar evening will drop to -200°F. The lander and rovers are not built for such temperatures.
Update: Good news! As of earlier today (January 29), SLIM has power again and it is back online.
Image(Credit): The SpaceX Dragon Freedom spacecraft, which is carrying four Axiom Mission 3 crew members, docking to the space station shortly after an orbital sunrise. (NASA TV)
The seven real astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) are now playing host to four visitors for the next two weeks after the Axiom Mission 3 crew came aboard the station earlier today.
Unlike the last two Axiom missions, all three paying members of the Axiom Mission crew are being supported by various European governments:
Marcus Wandt, member of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) astronaut reserve (ticket paid by ESA and the Swedish National Space Agency);
Walter Villadei, a member of the Italian air force (ticket paid by the Italian air force); and
Alper Gezeravcı, a fighter pilot with the Turkish air force (ticket paid by the Turkish government).
At the price of $55 million per seat, I am hoping the governments and space agencies feel they are getting their money’s worth versus being part of the normal 6-month astronaut rotation.
Supposedly, the extra hands will be working on 30 experiments that the normal crew did not have time for, though I would imagine they would be the less important experiments if they would otherwise not be performed at all.
If all of this is truly important work, then I expect such demand will justify the need for commercial space stations down the line to continue the work of the ISS. However, I expect a good chuck of future space interest will come from the tourist side.
Image (Credit): Artist’s rendering of Japan’s SLIM mission over the Moon. (JAXA)
Within a two day period, we saw one Moon lander become a burning wreck plummeting towards Earth and another land on the Moon with an immediate problem that threatened its mission. The Moon may be closer, but it is becoming a hazardous place for space missions, similar to Mars.
First, the NASA-contracted Astrobotic Peregrine lander mission ended yesterday as the spacecraft entered the Earth’s atmosphere and burned up. The $108 Moon mission burned up with its cargo, including NASA’s scientific instruments, various rovers, and the DNA remains of humans whose families hoped would be at rest on the Moon’s surface. I expect a few Native Americans may be saying “I told you so” to themselves.
It was almost comical reading a Scientific American article trying to put a good spin on the lost cargo:
In addition, all nine of the payloads that were designed to communicate with Peregrine successfully returned data to Earth. Iris, a rover built by Carnegie Mellon University, sent back a “Hello Earth!” message. COLMENA, a set of five small rovers built by the Mexican Space Agency, also succeeded in sending data back—making it the first Mexican scientific instrument to operate in the moon’s vicinity.
I expect “Hello Earth!” fell far below the ground crew’s expectations, but I guess you take what you can get. And Mexico will probably hold off on any celebrations for the moment.
The second set of bad news related to the latest Japanese Moon mission. The good news is that the Smart Lander for Investigation Moon (SLIM) spacecraft was a success in terms of a soft landing on the Moon. The problem is that the solar array is not getting sufficient solar power for the lander to remain operational for more than a few hours. It is possible that the situation may correct itself as the sunshine shifts over time, but this is not a good start to the mission.
Whatever happens, Japan can still claim to be the fifth nation to successfully land on the Moon. It is not perfect, but the Japanese have more reason to celebrate than the Mexicans at this point.
Image (Credit): Planned flight of the Peregrine lunar lander. (Astrobotic)
We started with high hopes, yet a problem has already threatened the success of Astrobotic’s mission to the Moon. Shortly after a successful lift off earlier this morning, the Peregrine lunar lander started reporting issues with its propulsion system, which impacted its ability to charge its batteries. Fortunately, the charging issue was resolved, yet the propulsion issue is still outstanding.
Astrobotic is already talking about a modified mission. Noting the loss of propellant, the company stated:
The team is working to try and stabilize this loss, but given the situation, we have prioritized maximizing the science and data we can capture. We are currently assessing what alternative mission profiles may be feasible at this time.
That sounds pretty ominous at this point when the final goal is the Moon. The US mission is starting to look like two other lunar missions that failed last year – one Japanese and one Russian – yet those happened on the Moon’s surface. If the Peregrine can stay in the Moon’s orbit then maybe it can get a few things accomplished.
If there is any good news, it is that the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Vulcan rocket appeared to operate as expected. That means the folks at ULA and Blue Origin can sleep a little better tonight.
I do not expect the Astrobotic people will have a good night’s sleep for some time.
Image (Credit): Chart showing the planned travel of the JUICE spacecraft. (ESA, work performed by ATG under contract to ESA)
I wanted to start out the new year by first remembering all of the great missions from 2023. I also decided to group this work rather than focus on single missions.
NASA Asteroid Missions: Asteroids were the big news this year, with Lucy encountering a surprise pair of asteroids, OSIRIS-REx bringing back a sample from the asteroid Bennu, and NASA launching the Psyche mission.
JWST Discoveries: This year we celebrated the anniversary of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), which has been better than ever imaged. It is helping to change our understanding of the origin of the universe while poking and prodding at exoplanets to review their secrets.
ESA Missions: The European Space Agency (ESA) has also been very busy in 2023. For instance, the launch of the Euclid mission to study dark matter and dark energy, as well as the JUICE mission to study Jupiter and its moons, will assist with our understanding of the big picture as well as our own neighborhood.
That’s an impressive record, and I look forward to even more great news in 2024.
Our Awesome Universe 