TOKYO (AP) — Japan became the fifth country in history to reach the moon when its spacecraft landed on the lunar surface early Saturday, officials said. But an issue with the power supply means that the mission could be in jeopardy.
Officials also said they needed more time to analyze whether the spacecraft, which wasn’t carrying astronauts, made a pinpoint landing — one of the priorities of the mission.
Hitoshi Kuninaka, head of the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, said they believe that rovers were launched and data were being transmitted back to Earth from the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon, or SLIM.
But he said that SLIM’s solar battery wasn’t generating power and the battery life of the spacecraft would only last a few more hours. He said that the priority now was for the craft to gather as much moon data as possible on the remaining battery.
Japan follows the United States, the Soviet Union, China and India in reaching the moon.
Kuninaka said he believes that Japan’s space program at least achieved “minimum” success.
SLIM landed on the moon at about 12:20 a.m. Tokyo time on Saturday (1520 GMT Friday).
There was a tense wait for news after the Japan space agency’s mission control initially said that SLIM was on the lunar surface, but that it was still “checking its status.” No further details were given until a news conference nearly two hours later.
For the mission to be considered fully successful, space officials need to confirm whether SLIM made a pinpoint landing. Kuninaka said while more time is needed, he personally thinks it was most likely achieved, based on his observation of data showing the spacecraft’s movement until the landing.
SLIM,…
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