Category Archives: SLIM

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 26-29 Apr 2024

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Japan SLIM Moon Lander Defies Expectations by Operating on 4th Lunar Day

JAXA controllers maintaining delicate balance on operational period which began 23 April, timing command / transmission with day-long interval to avoid overheating amid temperatures exceeding 100°C; Reactivation following 3rd lunar night (with temps near -170°C) was earlier in lunar day than previous cycles, resulting in brightest landscape / shortest shadows imaged during mission thus far; Near-equatorial location (13.3160°S, 25.2510°E) of SLIM lander mitigates temperature flux in comparison to near-polar site of Intuitive Machines Odysseus, which functioned 1 lunar day; Both Odysseus and SLIM contain lithium-ion batteries, however SLIM utilizes bespoke pouch cells, whereas Odysseus has COTS cells

 
Credits: JAXA

Friday / 29 March 2024

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SLIM Awakens for 3rd Lunar Day of Operations

JAXA team working at Sagamihara Campus SLIM control room are ebullient as their 2.4-m tall lunar lander reactivates yet again, enduring 2 cold nights on the Moon with temperatures below -130°C at mid-latitude landing site (-13.3160°, 25.2510°); Landscape imagery being taken via navigation camera currently amid high temperatures near 100°C with Sun relatively high overhead (necessary to power solar panels in off-nominal orientation); JAXA reports systems are mostly functioning aside from some temperature sensors and battery cells; Lunar day ends for SLIM on 30 March; SLIM team to present at Tanegashima Space Center open house 21 April

Credits: JAXA

Friday / 22 March 2024

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JAXA and Intuitive Machines Anticipate Possible SLIM and Odysseus Awakenings

2 landers currently in hibernation mode on lunar surface may reactivate in the coming days; JAXA SLIM resting within mid-latitude Mare Nectaris near Shioli crater (13.31°S, 25.25°E) may resume operations for a 3rd time since 19 Jan landing however JAXA operators caution repeated severe temperature cycles affect likelihood of late March restart; Intuitive Machines VP Trent Martin confirmed Odysseus (80.13°S, 1.44°E) in sunlight at 24th AAS Goddard Space Science Symposium currently ongoing and that IM is listening for signal; IM cash on hand stands at US$54.6M with $268.6M contract backlog

Credits: JAXA, IM

Tuesday / 27 Feb 2024

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Japan and USA Lunar Landers Are Transmitting Data From Lunar Surface

JAXA SLIM is once again functioning on the Moon following 1 lunar night and ~½ lunar day, imaging surrounds 55m east of target landing site (13.3160°S, 25.2510°E) with multiband spectroscopic camera; JAXA hopes to gain additional field of view relative to first observation campaign conducted 30-31 Jan (JST) via new commands for analysis and publication in Japanese Society for Planetary Sciences; Intuitive Machines Odysseus continues to operate from within unnamed 1-km diameter crater with 12° slope at 2,579 meters elevation, ~1.5km from target landing site (80.13°S, 1.44°E), sending imagery and data — albeit at reduced bit rate following orientation anomaly; Power loss may force end of operations morning of 27 Feb (CST) with reactivation possible next lunar day (mid-March)

 

Credits: Intuitive Machines, JAXA
 

Tuesday / 6 Feb 2024

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Japan Pioneers Lunar Broadcasting with First Amateur Radio Station on Moon

JAXA Ham Radio Club (call sign JQ1ZVI) has established radio communication in 437.41 MHz frequency with 1 W UHF transmitter weighing just 90 g aboard Lunar Excursion Vehicle (LEV-1) hopper (2.2 kg total mass), deployed from JAXA SLIM lander during 19 Jan UTC (20 Jan JST) landing descent; Signal containing Morse Code received by operators around Earth from a distance of ~380,000 km, including C.A. Muller Radio Astronomy Station utilizing 25 m radio telescope at Dwingeloo NL; SLIM is currently dormant as lunar night transpires but JAXA operators will attempt reactivation upon lunar daybreak in mid-Feb

Credits: JAXA, Bard

Tuesday / 30 Jan 2024

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SLIM Awakens, Resumes Mission to Characterize Lunar Surface

The motorcycle-sized SLIM lunar lander is collecting solar energy and conducting spectral analysis of regolith near 13.3160° S, 25.2510° E landing site after 10 days of uncertainty following off-nominal descent caused by loss of 1 (of 2) 500 N main engine resulting in a flipped landing orientation requiring westward sun; Despite this adversity, SLIM did achieve 1.4 m/s soft-landing within ~55 m of precision targeted site and is set to continue collecting data until end of lunar day, ~31 Jan UTC (began ~16 Jan) within 10 spectral bands via Multiband Spectroscopic Camera (MBC); Landscape image (L) generated by completing 257 low-res images reveals first light including protuberance dubbed ‘toy poodle’

Credits: JAXA, Ritsumeikan University, University of Aizu

Tuesday / 23 Jan 2024

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Japan Celebrates Becoming 5th Nation to Soft Land on Moon as Efforts to Extend Surface Operations Continue

JAXA has met its minimum success criteria for SLIM mission by landing softly on the lunar surface, however operations were suspended when battery level reached 12% at 02:57, Jan 20 JST (17:57 on 19 Jan UTC) just hours after landing due to attitude anomaly which left solar panels oriented westward; Prior to battery disconnection, JAXA ‘obtained a lot of data‘ and hopes to receive more if lander can be reactivated as Sun moves west toward the end of the current lunar day (~30 Jan); While not designed for lunar night survivability, ‘if the spacecraft survives the -200°F night, then in two weeks’ time, it could revive again‘ per ISAS Director General Hitoshi Kuninaka

Credits: JAXA

Friday / 19 Jan 2024

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Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Moon Mission Preparing for Final Landing Approach

JAXA Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) currently in elliptical 600 x 150 km lunar orbit following Perigee Descent Maneuver #1 (PDM1) which transferred craft from a 600 x 600 km circular orbit on 17 Jan 22:28 JST (13:28 UTC); Operators now preparing for PDM2, which is slated to bring orbit perilune even closer to the lunar surface (15 m) while maintaining 600 km apolune at ~22:40 JST (13:40 UTC) on 19 Jan; Mission success to be measured by 3 criteria: achieving soft landing (minimum), verification of <100 m landing accuracy (full) and continued operations until lunar nightfall (extra); Onboard Multiband Camera to investigate area around 13.2° S, 25.3° E landing site for mineral composition (specifically olivine) and LEV-1 /-2 rovers to explore & image lander; JAXA to livestream landing descent starting 20 Jan 00:00 JST (19 Jan 15:00 UTC)

Credits: JAXA

Tuesday / 9 Jan 2024

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11 Days to SLIM Lunar Landing Attempt as Astrobotic Troubleshoots and Intuitive Machines Preps for NET Feb Launch

JAXA SLIM tightening 6.4 hour / 600 x 4,000 km elliptical lunar orbit ahead of maneuvers which are to bring landing craft to 15 x 600 km pre-landing orbit by 19 Jan JST ahead of 20 Jan 12:20 JST (19 Jan 10:20 EST) landing attempt which will employ unique horizontal landing strategy with goal of 100-m landing accuracy; Astrobotic team reestablish Peregrine communication and electrical power following successful ULA Vulcan Centaur launch and subsequent orientation anomaly, reconfiguration of mission may limit operations to lunar orbit and/or transit; Intuitive Machines NOVA-C set to be NASA CLPS next ‘shot on goal’ launching within multi-day window opening mid-Feb

Credits: JAXA, Astrobotic

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 8-11 Dec 2023

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3 Lunar Missions Set to Land on Moon Near Side NET January

JAXA SLIM on lunar-bound trajectory as 2 commercial landers supported by NASA CLPS contracts, Astrobotic and Intuitive Machines, prepare for launch: SLIM set for lunar orbit insertion 25 Dec with mid-Jan orbit adjustment followed by landing (13.3°S, 25.2°E) NET 20 Jan 2024 (00:20 JST); Astrobotic Peregrine to launch on ULA Vulcan Centaur NET 24 Dec (1:50 EST), landing near Gruithuisen Domes NET 25 Jan (03:30 EST); Intuitive Machines Nova-C launching on SpaceX Falcon 9 NET 12 Jan, possibly landing (80.3°S, 1.2°E) 19 Jan within hours of SLIM

Credits: NASA, ESA, STScI