SLIM defies death
The Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) has successfully endured its third week-long night on the moon.
Even though the Japanese lunar lander wasn’t originally engineered to endure even one frigid night on the moon, during which temperatures plummeted to as low as minus 274 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 170 degrees Celsius), it has remarkably weathered its third lunar night.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) announced that SLIM successfully completed its third lunar night on Wednesday (April 23), providing evidence of its resilience through an image of the moon’s surface captured by the lander.
JAXA posted an image captured by SLIM as it emerged from its third lunar night on its X feed. In the translated tweet, the Japanese space agency stated: “Last night (April 23rd), we successfully established communication with SLIM, which resumed operation, confirming its survival for the third time.”
“Here is a photo of the moon’s surface captured last night with the navigation camera. Due to its early timing after waking up from the overnight slumber, the moon appears predominantly bright, with very short shadows.”
SLIM touched down on the moon on January 19, 2024, with the mission of evaluating landing technology and gathering data on lunar geology. Shortly after landing, JAXA operators found that it had tilted forward, resting on its nose. This misalignment meant that its solar panels, crucial for energy gathering, were not properly facing the sun, further highlighting the remarkable nature of its survival.
SLIM experienced its first night on the moon from January 31 to February 15. Subsequently, another night descended on SLIM on February 29. Its operators anticipated that the drastic temperature decrease from approximately 212 degrees Fahrenheit (100 degrees Celsius) to around minus 274 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 170 degrees Celsius) would pose a significant threat to the lander’s survival.
“Although the probability of failure will increase due to repeated severe temperature cycles, SLIM plans to attempt operations again the next time the sun shines (in late March),” JAXA stated in an update.
When operations were resumed in mid-March, JAXA discovered that the primary functions of the lander remained operational. This trend continued as SLIM emerged from lunar night again in mid-April, communicating back home on April 23.
While SLIM transmitted images of the lunar surface, independent researcher Chandra Tungathurthi from India utilized the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter to monitor the Japanese lunar lander. He shared some of the images he captured on his X feed.
Tungathurthi commented: “I located SLIM using the Orbital high-resolution camera aboard Chandrayaan-2. The image below was taken on 2024.03.16 at a pixel resolution of 16cm per pixel! Due to the low angle of the sun, you can observe elongated shadows.”
“I’ve provided three different perspectives of the location context. I’ve previously discussed the location where SLIM landed extensively; you can find them below. #SLIM woke up again yesterday for the third time, marking three consecutive nights it has done so,” he continued.
“Despite three consecutive overnight stays, SLIM has maintained its primary functions, surpassing initial design expectations,” JAXA stated in a translated post on X. “We will continue to closely monitor SLIM’s condition and aim to identify areas susceptible to deterioration based on the lunar day and night environment, as well as areas less prone to degradation.”
