Posted on 02/26/2024 12:14:04 PM PST by Red Badger
An artist's conception shows Japan's SLIM lander in its upended position on the lunar surface. (Credit: JAXA)
Japan’s space agency didn’t expect its wrong-side-up SLIM moon lander to revive itself after powering down for a circuit-chilling lunar night on Feb. 1. But that’s exactly what happened.
“Last night, a command was sent to SLIM and a response received, confirming that the spacecraft has made it through the lunar night and maintained communication capabilities!” the SLIM mission team reported today in a posting to X / Twitter.
This wasn’t SLIM’s first resurrection: The boxy spacecraft touched down and tumbled onto its side on Jan. 19-20, settling in a position where its solar arrays couldn’t charge up its batteries. To conserve power, mission managers put the probe into hibernation and waited for the sun’s rays to hit the panels at a more favorable angle.
The team was able to revive the lander and get a few days’ worth of science data before putting it back into hibernation. Mission managers thought that might have been the end. During the 14-day lunar night, surface temperatures were expected to fall to about 200 degrees below zero Fahrenheit (-130 degrees Celsius) — a deep-freeze that was colder than what SLIM was designed to endure.
The lunar night ended days ago. After giving SLIM’s solar panels a chance to charge up the batteries again, the team at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency decided to check in — and got the good news. The circuitry is warm again. Actually, it’s hot: SLIM’s team members said that when the lander resumed contact, some of its equipment was hotter than 212 degrees Fahrenheit (100 degrees Celsius). That’s too hot for their liking.
“Communication with SLIM was terminated after a short time, as it was still lunar midday and the temperature of the communication equipment was very high,” the mission team reported. “Preparations are being made to resume operations when instrument temperatures have sufficiently cooled.”
Based on that information, it sounds as if SLIM (whose acronym stands for “Smart Lander for Investigating Moon”) would be able to get in only a few days of work before the team has to put it to sleep again for the next lunar night. But that’s better than nothing. During SLIM’s previous opportunity to do some science, it made multispectral observations of its surroundings near Shioli Crater — including an assortment of rocks that were nicknamed after canine breeds.
SLIM’s remarkable revival may also boost the hopes of the team behind Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus lander, which touched down near the moon’s south pole last week and is expected to be in operation until lunar sunset about a week from now. Like SLIM, Odysseus made an off-kilter landing. Like SLIM, Odysseus was equipped with electronics that weren’t designed to survive the lunar night. And like SLIM, Odysseus will nevertheless get a wakeup call after the coming night has ended — just in case its circuits are more resilient than its designers thought.
Update: The SLIM team has posted a fresh photo from the lander. “During the SLIM overnight operation, we took images with a navigation camera!” the team said in a Japanese-language posting to X / Twitter:
Looks like these “rocket scientists” aren’t so smart after all, and that includes those managing the one from Texas.
Why is it gold, and what is the gold material covering it?
The moon is starting to look like a dump. When is WM scheduled to send up a garbage truck?
It is a thin plastic film called "aluminized Kapton". From one side it looks silver (aluminum) and from the other reflective orange-ish color.
Its Kapton thermal blanket, used for thermal control. Reflects sunlight heat away.
Because gold is more expensive to the taxpayer. :/
If NASA did it they would send up a garbage truck and a recycle truck—costs twice as much—good for contractors.
:-)
My wife took all the covers last night, and I, too, woke up freezing.
You can do better? These missions are not easy. And they are being attempted on the cheap, so they dont get the rigorous fail safe testing a manned program would get. If they cost more than they did, the would never get funded.
SNORT!!
Thanks.
Just how does an upside down lunar lander point its high-gain antenna at earth?
There was a TV show in the late 70’s based on that, starring Andy Griffith..............’Salvage 1’
Reflective mylar to keep the temperature down in sunlight...............
First ever almost head stand on the Moon ,LOL
I should add that the purpose of the Al/Kapton is heat management in an environment where the only heat transfer is radiation (no atmosphere). It reflects incoming IR radiation and also works to emit heat as IR from heat generated internally.
Thanks again. It’s easier to see in this model picture:
I have no doubt you can do better ...
LOL! Never caught that one.
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