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Moon Exploration: Unmanned Missions

Another Moon mission with problems
Japan lands on Moon but glitch threatens mission
Published
23 minutes ago

By Jonathan Amos
Science correspondent
A robot from Japan's space agency has successfully touched down on the Moon but problems with its solar power system may threaten its mission.

It makes the Asian nation only the fifth country to soft-land on Earth's natural satellite, after the US, the Soviet Union, China and India.

Called the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (Slim), the mission put itself gently on the lunar surface near the Shioloi equatorial crater.

Japan is now in a race against time.

After the joy of seeing its Slim spacecraft successfully touch down on the Moon, engineers from the Jaxa, the country's space agency, quickly realised all was not well.

For reasons not yet fully understood, the craft's solar cells are not working. This means all surface operations are currently being run off Slim's batteries and the lander may have just a few hours of life ahead of it.
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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-68035314
 
It's alive!
Japan: Moon lander Slim comes back to life and resumes mission
Published
17 minutes ago

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Slim artwork
IMAGE SOURCE,JAXA
Image caption,
Artwork: Jaxa has become the fifth national space agency to land on the Moon
By Kelly Ng
BBC News
Japan's Moon lander has resumed operations after being shut for a week due to a power supply issue.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said it re-established contact with the lander Sunday night, indicating that the glitch had been fixed.

Its solar cells are working again after a shift in lighting conditions allowed it to catch sunlight, the agency said.

It could not generate power when it landed on 20 January as the solar cells pointed away from the sun.
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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-68125589
 
Another Moon mission is on its way
Intuitive Machines: US spacecraft blasts off to Moon's south pole
Published
5 hours ago


By Georgina Rannard
Science reporter, BBC News
A privately-owned spacecraft headed for the Moon has blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

If the spacecraft Odysseus's mission is successful, its owner Intuitive Machines will make history as the first private company to land on the Moon.

All previous landings have been carried out by national space agencies.

The robotic craft will attempt to land on the lunar surface's south pole, where scientists hope there could be a source of water.

It is the second commercial mission to be funded by the US space agency Nasa, as it seeks to encourage private missions to the Moon as a way to expand its reach in space.

The craft launched at 01:05 EST (06:05GMT) on top of a Falcon 9 rocket made by Elon Musk's SpaceX company.
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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-68292286
 
Oops
Intuitive Machines: Odysseus Moon lander 'tipped over on touchdown'
Published
11 hours ago

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CEO
IMAGE SOURCE,NASA
Image caption,
Steve Altemus, CEO of Intuitive Machines, describes what he thinks happened during landing
Jonathan Amos, Science correspondent
By Jonathan Amos
Science correspondent
@BBCAmos
The Odysseus Moon lander is likely lying on its side with its head resting against a rock.

The US spacecraft, which made history on Thursday by becoming the first ever privately built and operated robot to complete a soft lunar touchdown, is otherwise in good condition.

Its owner, Texan firm Intuitive Machines, says Odysseus has plenty of power and is communicating with Earth.

Controllers are trying to retrieve pictures from the robot.

Steve Altemus, the CEO and co-founder of IM, said it wasn't totally clear what had happened but the data suggested the robot caught a foot on the surface and then fell because it still had some lateral motion at the moment of landing.
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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-68388695
 
Can't say I'm overly surprised, as the tall design did look extremely top-heavy.
Surely a wider, more squat design would have been a more sensible solution?

moon.png
 
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