{"id":27667,"date":"2024-01-25T16:16:04","date_gmt":"2024-01-25T16:16:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/japan-hopes-sunlight-can-save-stricken-moon-lander"},"modified":"2024-01-25T16:29:46","modified_gmt":"2024-01-25T16:29:46","slug":"japan-hopes-sunlight-can-save-stricken-moon-lander","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/japan-hopes-sunlight-can-save-stricken-moon-lander","title":{"rendered":"Japan hopes sunlight can save stricken Moon lander"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Sierra-Leone. <\/strong><\/span>Japan may yet manage to salvage its Moon lander, the country\u2019s space agency Jaxa says \u2013 if sunlight hits it in the right place.<\/p>\n

The Slim spacecraft was turned off just three hours after its historic lunar touchdown on Saturday to save power.<\/p>\n

Engineers had realised its solar cells were pointing west, away from the Sun, and could not generate electricity.<\/p>\n

But the mission team is now hopeful the situation could improve as lighting conditions shift.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf sunlight hits the Moon from the west in the future, we believe there\u2019s a possibility of power generation, and we\u2019re currently preparing for restoration,\u201d the Jaxa statement read.<\/p>\n

The Slim mission \u2013 also nicknamed \u201cMoon Sniper\u201d for its use of precision-landing technologies \u2013 made Japan only the fifth nation in history to complete a soft lunar touchdown.<\/p>\n

But the joy of seeing the craft complete its controlled descent soon turned to worry as power levels drained away.<\/p>\n

Rather than let the system go completely flat, the decision was taken to put the craft to sleep.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe battery was disconnected according to our procedures with 12% power remaining, in order to avoid a situation where the restart (of the lander) would be hampered,\u201d Jaxa said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a result, the spacecraft was switched off at 02:57 (Saturday, Japan time, or 17:57 GMT, Friday).\u201d<\/p>\n

Before shutdown, mission control was able to successfully gather details of Slim\u2019s predicament, as well as images and data about its descent to the lunar surface.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re relieved and beginning to get excited after confirming a lot of data has been obtained,\u201d Jaxa said.<\/p>\n

The agency promised updates through the week.<\/p>\n

Moon missions try to land early in the \u201clunar day\u201d, when the Sun comes up over the eastern horizon. This gives a spacecraft about two \u201cEarth weeks\u201d of illumination before the Sun then sets in the west for two weeks of darkness.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s currently \u201cmorning\u201d at Slim\u2019s landing location on the slopes of Shioli Crater. If, as suspected, the spacecraft\u2019s solar cells are pointing westward, then it may have to wait until the \u201clunar afternoon\u201d before those cells catch enough light to start charging the battery system.<\/p>\n

Slim was carrying two small rovers, which data indicates it managed to eject as planned just before touchdown.<\/p>\n

The craft is also equipped with an infrared camera to study the local geology. How much it could investigate if power levels are restored is uncertain.<\/p>\n

Statistically, it\u2019s proven very hard to land on the Moon. Only about half of all attempts have succeeded.<\/p>\n

Prior to Slim\u2019s touchdown only the US, the former Soviet Union, China and India had made it to the surface intact.<\/p>\n

A private American mission gave up its landing bid earlier this month when it suffered a propulsion fault shortly after launch from Earth. Another commercial US mission will try its luck in late February.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Sierra-Leone<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Sierra-Leone. Japan may yet manage to salvage its Moon lander, the country\u2019s space agency Jaxa says \u2013 if sunlight hits it in the right place. The Slim spacecraft was turned off just three hours after its historic lunar touchdown on Saturday to save power. Engineers had realised its solar cells were pointing west, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":27666,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,9],"tags":[291,293,292],"class_list":["post-27667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-miscellaneous","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-sierra-leone","tag-sierra-leone"],"yoast_head":"\nJapan hopes sunlight can save stricken Moon lander - Sierra Leone<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Japan may yet manage to salvage its Moon lander, the country\u2019s space agency Jaxa says \u2013 if sunlight hits it in the right ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/japan-hopes-sunlight-can-save-stricken-moon-lander\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Japan hopes sunlight can save stricken Moon lander\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Japan may yet manage to salvage its Moon lander, the country\u2019s space agency Jaxa says \u2013 if sunlight hits it in the right ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/japan-hopes-sunlight-can-save-stricken-moon-lander\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sierra Leone\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-01-25T16:16:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-01-25T16:29:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/sites\/16\/2024\/01\/sm_1706187411.177253.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"464\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/japan-hopes-sunlight-can-save-stricken-moon-lander#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/japan-hopes-sunlight-can-save-stricken-moon-lander\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Japan hopes sunlight can save stricken Moon lander\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-01-25T16:16:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-01-25T16:29:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/japan-hopes-sunlight-can-save-stricken-moon-lander\"},\"wordCount\":497,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/japan-hopes-sunlight-can-save-stricken-moon-lander#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/sites\/16\/2024\/01\/sm_1706187411.177253.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Sierra-Leone\",\"Sierra-Leone\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"miscellaneous\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/japan-hopes-sunlight-can-save-stricken-moon-lander#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/japan-hopes-sunlight-can-save-stricken-moon-lander\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/japan-hopes-sunlight-can-save-stricken-moon-lander\",\"name\":\"Japan hopes sunlight can save stricken Moon lander - Sierra Leone\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/japan-hopes-sunlight-can-save-stricken-moon-lander#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/japan-hopes-sunlight-can-save-stricken-moon-lander#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/sites\/16\/2024\/01\/sm_1706187411.177253.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-01-25T16:16:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-01-25T16:29:46+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"Japan may yet manage to salvage its Moon lander, the country\u2019s space agency Jaxa says \u2013 if sunlight hits it in the right ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/japan-hopes-sunlight-can-save-stricken-moon-lander#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/japan-hopes-sunlight-can-save-stricken-moon-lander\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/japan-hopes-sunlight-can-save-stricken-moon-lander#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/sites\/16\/2024\/01\/sm_1706187411.177253.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/sites\/16\/2024\/01\/sm_1706187411.177253.jpg\",\"width\":768,\"height\":464,\"caption\":\"Japan hopes sunlight can save stricken Moon lander\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/japan-hopes-sunlight-can-save-stricken-moon-lander#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Japan hopes sunlight can save stricken Moon lander\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/\",\"name\":\"Sierra Leone\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Japan hopes sunlight can save stricken Moon lander - Sierra Leone","description":"Japan may yet manage to salvage its Moon lander, the country\u2019s space agency Jaxa says \u2013 if sunlight hits it in the right ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/japan-hopes-sunlight-can-save-stricken-moon-lander","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Japan hopes sunlight can save stricken Moon lander","og_description":"Japan may yet manage to salvage its Moon lander, the country\u2019s space agency Jaxa says \u2013 if sunlight hits it in the right ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/japan-hopes-sunlight-can-save-stricken-moon-lander","og_site_name":"Sierra Leone","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2024-01-25T16:16:04+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-01-25T16:29:46+00:00","og_image":[{"width":768,"height":464,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/sites\/16\/2024\/01\/sm_1706187411.177253.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/japan-hopes-sunlight-can-save-stricken-moon-lander#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/japan-hopes-sunlight-can-save-stricken-moon-lander"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Japan hopes sunlight can save stricken Moon lander","datePublished":"2024-01-25T16:16:04+00:00","dateModified":"2024-01-25T16:29:46+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/japan-hopes-sunlight-can-save-stricken-moon-lander"},"wordCount":497,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/japan-hopes-sunlight-can-save-stricken-moon-lander#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/sites\/16\/2024\/01\/sm_1706187411.177253.jpg","keywords":["Africa Press","Africa Press-Sierra-Leone","Sierra-Leone"],"articleSection":["all news","miscellaneous"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/japan-hopes-sunlight-can-save-stricken-moon-lander#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/japan-hopes-sunlight-can-save-stricken-moon-lander","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/japan-hopes-sunlight-can-save-stricken-moon-lander","name":"Japan hopes sunlight can save stricken Moon lander - Sierra Leone","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/japan-hopes-sunlight-can-save-stricken-moon-lander#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/japan-hopes-sunlight-can-save-stricken-moon-lander#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/sites\/16\/2024\/01\/sm_1706187411.177253.jpg","datePublished":"2024-01-25T16:16:04+00:00","dateModified":"2024-01-25T16:29:46+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"Japan may yet manage to salvage its Moon lander, the country\u2019s space agency Jaxa says \u2013 if sunlight hits it in the right ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/japan-hopes-sunlight-can-save-stricken-moon-lander#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/japan-hopes-sunlight-can-save-stricken-moon-lander"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/japan-hopes-sunlight-can-save-stricken-moon-lander#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/sites\/16\/2024\/01\/sm_1706187411.177253.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/sites\/16\/2024\/01\/sm_1706187411.177253.jpg","width":768,"height":464,"caption":"Japan hopes sunlight can save stricken Moon lander"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/japan-hopes-sunlight-can-save-stricken-moon-lander#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Japan hopes sunlight can save stricken Moon lander"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/","name":"Sierra Leone","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27667"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27667\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}