Two moon missions show space struggle is real

Japan has become the fifth country to land on the moon, but the sun may have the final say on how much life remains on the mission.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA, NASA’s Japanese counterpart) announced that its robotic spacecraft survived its landing on the lunar surface at 12:20 pm on January 20. But how long mission controllers on Earth can communicate with the lander depends on whether its solar panels start generating electricity, space agency leaders said.

At the time, the SLIM spacecraft (short for “Smart Lunar Lander”) was running solely on battery power and had only a few hours left. Changes in the sun’s angle could turn the mission around, the team said.

“Even if the battery dies and the SLIM loses all power, it will restart if the panel receives sunlight,” JAXA Director General Hitoshi Kuninaka said through a translator. “In this case, we will be able to restore the SLIM of operation.”

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The SLIM mission was launched on September 7, 2023 from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan. Four months later, the unmanned spacecraft appeared to land on the slopes of the Shioli crater on the near side of the moon.

JAXA chose the site because it could provide scientists with information about the formation of the moon. One leading theory is that the moon was formed after a massive object collided with the Earth. If this is true, then much of the moon’s mantle may be similar to Earth rocks. Astronomers speculate that some ejected lunar mantle fragments may be found near the crater surface to provide samples for further study.

The mission’s goal was to demonstrate a so-called “precision landing” with an accuracy of less than 100 yards, an unprecedented level of precision for a lunar landing. Most landing targets span many square miles. To accomplish this feat, the spacecraft is equipped with photo-matching technology to determine its location. Agency officials said the matching algorithm only takes a few seconds to process. It’s unclear whether it went ahead as planned, but JAXA plans to provide more information to the public next week.

The JAXA spacecraft is believed to be located near the Shioli crater on the near side of the moon.
Image credit: NASA/LRO

One day before the moon landing, a U.S. company’s lunar spacecraft malfunctioned, reentered the Earth’s atmosphere and disintegrated over the South Pacific. Astrobotic Technologies’ Peregrine lander, carrying NASA instruments and other payloads, flew in space for 10 days but never reached lunar orbit after a fuel leak was discovered on the first day of the flight.

In a separate news conference, Astrobotic CEO John Thornton said he believed a valve failure may have caused a pressure rupture in the propellant tank.

“We were at the high point of a perfect launch, but we hit the low point when we discovered that the spacecraft no longer had the propulsion required to attempt a moon landing,” he said.

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NASA has selected Astrobotic as one of several suppliers for its Commercial Lunar Payload Services program to explore the moon in the coming years. The company was the first to attempt a 250,000-mile trek to the moon.

The program enlists the private sector to help deliver cargo, conduct experiments, demonstrate new technologies and send back critical data. Through these contracts, NASA hopes to establish a regular lunar mission cadence in preparation for sending Artemis astronauts to the moon.

Some 60 years have passed since the first unmanned moon landing, but landing remains a daunting task. The moon’s exosphere – an extremely thin atmosphere of gases that is virtually unaffected by the moon’s gravity – provides little resistance to slow down a spacecraft as it approaches the surface. In addition, there is no GPS system on the moon to help guide the spacecraft to the landing site.

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For decades, no one seemed interested in returning to the lunar surface, but that has changed in recent years with NASA’s Artemis program becoming a major catalyst. Several countries and private companies have set their sights on the lunar South Pole, where ice is thought to be buried in permanently shadowed craters. This natural resource is coveted because it could provide drinking water, oxygen and rocket fuel for future missions.

Japan’s moon landing follows India’s success last year, launching its Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft to the lunar south pole region. Other countries that have made the journey include the former Soviet Union, the United States and China.

So far, no private company has been able to sail or land without accidents. However, Joel Kearns, deputy administrator for exploration, said that NASA has not lost confidence in using commercial partners to reach the moon.

“Failure is often part of the path to success, and flying and landing newly developed spacecraft in space around the moon is extremely difficult,” Hearns said. “We are taking a risk posture that we know new companies will Innovate, push the envelope, and we learn and grow with every flight.”