Losing Sunlight On The Moon, Japanese SLIM Plane Is Again Inactive

JAKARTA The development of the smart Lander for Investigation Moon (SLIM) mission has again been hampered. The reason is, this aircraft made by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has entered an inactive period.

This happens because the SLIM landing area has been shrouded in the night. JAXA says that their lander is not designed for the moon's night period. Therefore, SLIM will lose its function for two weeks.

By entering the second period of dormancy, it is possible that SLIM will not be able to get back up and operate properly. However, JAXA will try to wake up the SLIM after the month's night period ends.

"Although SLIM is not designed for tough lunar night conditions, we plan to try to operate again from mid-February, when the Sun shines on SLIM's solar cells again," JAXA said through its official social media.

Actually, JAXA had tried to activate the SLIM communicator on Thursday, February 1. However, the results were still nil because SLIM did not provide a response and still did not want to operate at night.

"We sent an order (on February 1) to reactivate the SLIM communicator in case, but without a response, we confirmed the SLIM had entered an inactive state," the space agency said.

Currently, JAXA must wait until the night period ends. At least, before the SLIM lander enters an inactive period, the plane had shared the last image showing the Shioli crater. This image can be examined more deeply by JAXA.