SLIM Moon Lander Is ‘Asleep’ Again for the Lunar Night – Japanese Space Agency Will Try To Turn Spacecraft on Again in Two Weeks
Japanese SLIM lunar lander is again ‘asleep’, and maybe for good.
Its mission has been equal parts historic and troubled, because while the landing was done with unprecedented level of accuracy – living up to the ‘moon sniper’ nickname – something also went wrong, as we finally discovered that SLIM lander was upside down.
The wrong position meant that the solar cells were not receiving sun light and therefore batteries were rapidly discharging.
Mission control has to turn the spacecraft off, waiting for the sun to move to the west during the lunar day.
