Japan Moon Mission SLIM Lander Send Final Photos Before Sleeping in Lunar Night

The SLIM lander that went on Japan's moon mission is now probably going to sleep forever, or not. Japan's space agency JAXA has said that the slim moon lander is once again going into sleep. That means the lander is going into sleep mode. The sun is now about to set over the landing site. The lander has stopped receiving solar energy, and it has stopped working. Freezing cold will continue to fall on the landing site for 14 days now. In such a situation, will Japan's moon mission end? Let us explain in detail.

Japan had created history by setting foot on the moon in January 2024. Japan has become the fifth country to successfully land on the moon. The lander landed on January 19 at a place called Mare Nectaris in the Moon's Theophilus crater. The mission faced challenges right from the beginning. First, the spacecraft bounced during landing, causing it to land on its nose. Due to this, the solar panel installed on the lander reached such a state that the sun's rays did not fall on it.

The lander became active only a few days ago, on January 29, when the position of the Sun became such that sunlight could fall on its solar panels. But here too the lander's luck was bad because it was getting sunlight very late according to the lunar day, because it was facing west. According to LiveScience, now sunlight will not reach the lander for 14 days. Meanwhile, there is doubt whether the lander will be able to withstand the snowy nights of the moon or not. According to the report, during this period the temperature of the moon's surface falls to -130 degrees Celsius at night. Due to which the battery and other electronic equipment of the lander can get damaged. But the Japanese space agency JAXA hopes that it will rise again when sunlight falls on the lander again.

Before going into sleep, the lander has sent some interesting photos of the lunar surface which have been shared by the space agency. The agency reported through the X handle that they tried to send commands to the SLIM lander's communicator. But no response came. This means that SLIM has now gone to sleep. This is the last view captured by SLIM before sleeping. The agency has shared the photo on its social media handle which is being liked a lot.