APOD: 2024 January 30 Б SLIM Lands on the Moon
Explanation:
New landers are on the Moon.
Nearly two weeks ago,
Japan's
Smart Lander for Investigating Moon
(SLIM) released two rovers as it descended, before its main lander
touched down itself.
The larger of the two rovers can
hop like a frog,
while the smaller rover is about the size of a
baseball and can move after
pulling itself apart like a
transformer.
The main lander, nicknamed Moon Sniper, is seen in the
featured image taken by the smaller rover.
Inspection of the image shows that
Moon Sniper's thrusters are facing up,
meaning that the lander is
upside down from its descent configuration and
on its side from its intended
landing configuration.
One result is that
Moon Sniper's
solar panels are not in the
expected orientation, so that
powering the lander had to be curtailed and adapted.
SLIM's lander has
already succeeded as a technology demonstration,
its main mission, but was not
designed to withstand the lunar night -- which
starts tomorrow.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
