Japanese Spacecraft Regains Power after Moon Landing
2024-01-30
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1Japan's space agency says a spacecraft that landed on the moon earlier this month has regained power and is continuing its mission.
2Officials from the Japan Exploration Agency (JAXA) said Monday they had successfully reestablished communication with the SLIM moon explorer.
3SLIM touched down on the moon on January 20.
4But the spacecraft landed the wrong way up.
5Its solar equipment was unable to see the sun.
6JAXA said SLIM was likely able to regain power because of a change in the sun's direction.
7After the landing, JAXA used the spacecraft's battery power to gather as much data as possible about the touchdown and the surrounding area.
8The power was then turned off to wait for the sun to rise higher in the lunar sky.
9Mission officials have said the explorer landed within 55 meters of its target near the lunar equator.
10It also landed in between two craters in an area covered in volcanic rock.
11JAXA said these results demonstrated progress in what it calls "pinpoint" landing technology.
12Past moon missions generally aimed to hit flat areas at least 10 kilometers wide.
13But the ability to land on very exact targets is expected to help support future space vehicles traveling to the moon and other places.
14The main purpose of the mission was to test the possibility that spacecraft can land on very specific targets.
15But SLIM is also capturing images and released two small explorers.
16The explorers are designed to examine mineral-rich rocks and collect data on the moon's development.
17JAXA has not named a specific date for when SLIM will end its operations on the moon.
18But the agency has said in the past that the lander was not designed to survive a lunar night.
19The next lunar night begins on Thursday.
20The mission made Japan the fifth country in the world to successfully land on the surface of the moon, after the United States, the Soviet Union, China and India.
21I'm Bryan Lynn.
1Japan's space agency says a spacecraft that landed on the moon earlier this month has regained power and is continuing its mission. 2Officials from the Japan Exploration Agency (JAXA) said Monday they had successfully reestablished communication with the SLIM moon explorer. 3SLIM touched down on the moon on January 20. But the spacecraft landed the wrong way up. Its solar equipment was unable to see the sun. JAXA said SLIM was likely able to regain power because of a change in the sun's direction. 4After the landing, JAXA used the spacecraft's battery power to gather as much data as possible about the touchdown and the surrounding area. The power was then turned off to wait for the sun to rise higher in the lunar sky. 5Mission officials have said the explorer landed within 55 meters of its target near the lunar equator. It also landed in between two craters in an area covered in volcanic rock. JAXA said these results demonstrated progress in what it calls "pinpoint" landing technology. 6Past moon missions generally aimed to hit flat areas at least 10 kilometers wide. But the ability to land on very exact targets is expected to help support future space vehicles traveling to the moon and other places. 7The main purpose of the mission was to test the possibility that spacecraft can land on very specific targets. But SLIM is also capturing images and released two small explorers. The explorers are designed to examine mineral-rich rocks and collect data on the moon's development. 8JAXA has not named a specific date for when SLIM will end its operations on the moon. But the agency has said in the past that the lander was not designed to survive a lunar night. The next lunar night begins on Thursday. 9The mission made Japan the fifth country in the world to successfully land on the surface of the moon, after the United States, the Soviet Union, China and India. 10I'm Bryan Lynn. 11The Associated Press and Reuters reported on this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the reports for VOA Learning English. 12_____________________________________________ 13Words in This Story 14mission - n. the flight of a spacecraft to perform a certain task or job 15battery - n. a device that chemically stores electricity so it can be used as direct current in electrical circuits such as computers and motors 16pinpoint - v. to say exactly what or where something is