Category: Science

Categories
-Top News Asia News Science

N. Korea launches of IRBM tipped with hypersonic warhead

An alarmed Japan, South Korea report Pyongyang's second ballistic missile launch into East Sea

Hypersonic missiles are designed to travel at more than five times the speed of sound on irregular and low-altitude trajectories…reports Asian Lite News

North Korea leader Kim Jong Un attended and oversaw the test launch of a brand new intermediate-range sold fuel missile that carried a hypersonic warhead on Tuesday, the country’s official state media was cited as saying by Kyodo News

According to Korean Central News Agency Kim Jong Un, attended the test launch of the solid fuel-powered Hwasong-16 missile in a Pyongyang suburb and claimed all missiles his country has developed are now based on solid fuel technology and are capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

North Korea launched a ballistic missile toward the Sea of Japan on Tuesday, with the projectile falling into waters outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone, according to the Japanese Defence Ministry. The South Korean military said the projectile might have been a hypersonic weapon.

Hypersonic missiles are designed to travel at more than five times the speed of sound on irregular and low-altitude trajectories.

Solid-fuel missiles do not need to be filled up with fuel before being launched like liquid-fuel missiles do, making it harder for other countries to detect launch preparations and enhancing their pre-emptive strike and retaliatory capability, Kyodo News reported.

North Korea said in January it had test-fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile carrying a hypersonic warhead, and said last month that it had successfully conducted a grounded test of a solid-fuel jet engine for an intermediate-range hypersonic missile.

During Tuesday’s test, the hypersonic warhead reached its first peak at a height of 101.1 kilometers and the second at 72.3 km while making a 1,000-km-long flight as scheduled to accurately hit waters in the Sea of Japan, according to KCNA. The Japanese Defence Ministry had said the missile flew over 650 km.

The test-fire had no adverse effect on the security of neighbouring countries, the news agency said.

According to the Kyodo News report, Kim expressed great satisfaction over the test-fire result and said his country has perfected the project for “putting all the tactical, operational and strategic missiles with various ranges on solid-fueled, warhead-controlled and nuclear warhead-carrying basis.”

He noted the current “epoch-making success serves as a special event in which a great change will be brought about in enhancing the nuclear war deterrent” of North Korea’s armed forces, according to KCNA. (ANI)

ALSO READ-North Korea Demonstrates Growing Threat with Hypersonic Technology

Categories
-Top News India News Science

ESA Chief Praises ISRO for ‘Astonishing’ Space Achievements

Josef Aschbacher said, “What India is accomplishing in space – especially in Lunar exploration – is astonishing.”

Director General of European Space Agency (ESA), Josef Aschbacher, heaped praise on the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for its recent successful launches and said that India’s accomplishments in space and especially in lunar exploration is ‘astonishing’.

Aschbacher posted an appreciation post on X, after ESA hosted its 323rd Council meeting in Paris which was attended by the ISRO Chairman, S Somanath.

ESA Member States met in Paris, France, for the 323rd session of the ESA Council on March 26 and 27, 2024.

The European scientist also underscored that the significance of strengthening ties and deepening cooperation with international partners cannot be underestimated.

“What India is accomplishing in space – especially in Lunar exploration – is astonishing. We hosted ISRO’s Chairman, Dr. S. Somanath at ESA Council today. It was a milestone occasion for Delegates to learn more about current and future plans for ESA-ISRO cooperation,” he posted on X.

“The strategic importance of strengthening ties and deepening cooperation with international partners cannot be underestimated,” he added.

Additionally, Astronaut Thomas Pesquet also shared about meeting with the ISRO chairman and the ESA Director and said that the they witnessed enthusiastic exchanges between the two leaders.

“Very proud to welcome ISRO chairman Shri. S. Somanath at ESA HQ in Paris yesterday, with our director Josef Aschbacher. Enthusiastic exchanges between the two men, and abounding cooperation opportunities between the two organisations. Let’s co-travel to space together!,” he posted on X.

In a stellar display of prowess, India soared to new heights in 2023 with the successful soft landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the South Pole of the Moon and the launch of Aditya-L1, India’s first solar mission.

These milestones not only secured India’s standing in the global space economy but also fueled the engines for the private space sector in India.

On August 23, 2023, the Chandrayaan-3 mission created history with the successful soft landing on Moon’s surface.

India is now the first nation to reach near the Moon’s unexplored South Pole and ranks amongst the top four nations to carry out a soft landing on the lunar surface.

Chandrayaan-3 is India’s third lunar mission and the second attempt to land softly on the moon’s surface. It’s part of the Chandrayaan program, a series of missions developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to explore the moon. The mission consists of a Vikram lunar lander, a Pragyan lunar rover, and a propulsion module that carries the spacecraft from Earth orbit to lunar orbit.

Additionally, in a major milestone, India placed its first dedicated solar mission, the Aditya-L1 spacecraft, in the Halo orbit. The country went gaga over this historic achievement, especially since this mission came at the back of India’s moon landing, the Chandrayaan-3 mission.

Aditya-L1 reached Lagrange Point L1 which is about 1.5 million km from earth. The PSLV-C57.1 rocket carrying the Aditya-L1 orbiter lifted off successfully from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, in September. (ANI)

Categories
-Top News Science USA

Starship Will Be On Mars In 5 Years: Musk

Musk’s aerospace company SpaceX this week successfully launched the third test flight of its 400-foot-tall Starship rocket, along with the Heavy booster.

Elon Musk on Saturday said that the huge starship Starship rocket, that aims to help land astronauts on the Moon in 2026, will be on Mars within five years.

Musk’s aerospace company SpaceX this week successfully launched the third test flight of its 400-foot-tall Starship rocket, along with the Heavy booster.

“Starship will be on Mars within 5 years,” the billionaire posted on X. The Tesla CEO also posted some images of the Starship rocket, saying “wild that this is a real picture”.

“Pretty much anything that you can do on the ground should be done on the ground. But for warming up Mars, reflectors made on Phobos & Deimos (Mars’ two moons) could be a good way to go,” he further said.

Starship is the world’s most powerful rocket and will be used to send humans to the Moon and then eventually to Mars.

Starship consists of a giant first-stage booster called Super Heavy and a 50 metres upper-stage spacecraft known as Starship.

Musk eventually plans to shift at least one million people to Mars. “We are mapping out a game plan to get a million people to Mars,” Musk wrote in a recent post on X.

“Civilisation only passes the single-planet Great Filter when Mars can survive even if Earth supply ships stop coming,” he added. “One day, a trip to Mars will be like a flight across the country”. He also aims to build a base on the Moon.

“Humanity should have a moon base, cities on Mars and be out there among the stars,” the X owner said.

Categories
-Top News Science USA

Rocket Lab Launches Synspective’s StriX-3 Satellite for Radar Imaging

“Lift-off for ‘Owl Night Long’, our 45th Electron mission!” Rocket Lab wrote in a post on X…reports Asian Lite News

 American aerospace manufacturer and launch service provider Rocket Lab on Tuesday carried a commercial radar-imaging satellite by Japanese company Synspective into the low Earth orbit.

The ‘Owl Night Long’ mission carrying Synspective’s StriX-3 satellite lifted off at 11.03 EDT (8.33 p.m. IST) from the Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand, the company said.

“Lift-off for ‘Owl Night Long’, our 45th Electron mission!” Rocket Lab wrote in a post on X.

Tokyo-based Synspective is a satellite data solutions provider. The StriX-3 satellites, named after owls, were launched aboard Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket.

It is part of Synspective’s constellation of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellites that come with a foldable antenna, increased power, and advanced thermal control.

Even with reduced size, the SAR satellites could achieve imaging capabilities that are comparable to large SAR satellites.

The ‘Owl Night Long’ mission is Rocket Lab’s fourth launch for the constellation operator following launches in 2020 and 2022, the company said.

ALSO READ-US Army cuts thousands of posts in major revamp  

Categories
-Top News India News Science

India tests Agni-5 with multiple independent warheads  

The maiden flight test of Agni-V, India’s longest range ballistic missile with a “range of more than 5000 kms” was conducted in April 2012 and has since been tested multiple times…reports Asian Lite News

In a major technological breakthrough and building in redundancy into the country’s nuclear weapons programme, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday announced the successful test firing of Agni-V ballistic missile with Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicle (MIRV) technology by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) under Mission Divyastra. The MIRV technology means a single missile can carry multiple warheads.

The flight test named Mission Divyastra was carried out from Dr A. P. J. Abdul Kalam Island in Odisha, DRDO said in a statement adding, “Various telemetry and radar stations tracked and monitored multiple re-entry vehicles. The mission accomplished the designed parameters.”

“Proud of our DRDO scientists for Mission Divyastra, the first flight test of indigenously developed Agni-5 missile with Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicle (MIRV) technology,” Mr. Modi announced on social media platform ‘X’. Noting that with this test India has joined the select group of nations who have MIRV capability, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh too joined the PM in congratulating team DRDO.

This technology will ensure that a single missile can deploy multiple war heads at different locations, Government sources said noting that with Mission Divyastra, Government sources said. “This system is equipped with indigenous avionics systems and high accuracy sensor packages, which ensured that the re-entry vehicles reached the target points within the desired accuracy. The capability is an enunciator of India’s growing technological prowess,” sources said. “The project director is a woman and has significant women contribution.”

The maiden flight test of Agni-V, India’s longest range ballistic missile with a “range of more than 5000 kms” was conducted in April 2012 and has since been tested multiple times. It has also been canistered, which improves ease of handling and operation. Agni-V uses a three-stage solid fuelled engine and is capable of striking targets at ranges of over 5,000 Kms and can reach most parts of China. DRDO officials had stated over the last several years that MIRV tech was under development.

The first flight test of Agni V under Mission Divyastra marks a very important milestone in India’s march towards greater geo-strategic role and capabilities, President Darupadi Murmu said on ‘X’. “The state-of-the-art technology developed indigenously is a firm step in the direction of India becoming Atmanirbhar,” Ms. Murmu said congratulating Team DRDO for this major achievement.

Noting that as China undergoes a rapid expansion and modernization of its nuclear arsenal, today’s test shows India will not stand still, Dr. Clary added, “The question is the pace and breadth of China, India, and Pakistan’s combined arms efforts and whether the region–and India specifically–can avoid a costly arms race.”

Modi lauds first flight test of MIRV tech

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday lauded Mission Divyastra, the first flight test of the indigenously developed Agni-5 missile equipped with Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicle (MIRV) technology.

The Prime Minister praised the achievements of the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) scientists for their successful execution of Mission Divyastra.

Taking to the micro-blogging site X, the Prime Minister posted, “Proud of our DRDO scientists for Mission Divyastra, the first flight test of indigenously developed Agni-5 missiles with Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicle (MIRV) technology.”

The inclusion of Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicle (MIRV) technology in the Agni-5 missile enhances its effectiveness in delivering multiple warheads to different targets with precision, thereby augmenting India’s deterrence capabilities and strengthening national security.

An MIRV payload involves a single missile carrying four to six nuclear warheads, each programmed to hit a separate target.

According to government sources, India today tested Mission Divyastra, the first flight test of an indigenously developed Agni-5 missile with MIRV technology.

This will ensure that a single missile can deploy multiple warheads at different locations.

According to government sources, the project director is a woman and has a significant women’s contribution. With the test of Mission Divyastra, India has joined the select group of nations that have MIRV capability.

This system is equipped with indigenous Avionics systems and high-accuracy sensor packages, which ensure that the re-entry vehicles reach the target points with the desired accuracy. The capability is an enunciator of India’s growing technological prowess, sources added.

Rajnath congratulates DRDO

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday congratulated the scientists of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for the maiden flight test of indigenously developed Agni-5 missile with Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicle (MIRV) technology.

In a post on X, Rajnath Singh said, “India today successfully tested Mission Divyastra – the first flight test of indigenously developed Agni-5 missile with Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicle (MIRV) technology and joined the select group of nations who have MIRV (Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry) capability. Congratulations to our DRDO scientists and the entire team for this exceptional success. India is proud of them!”

ALSO READ-Kharge slams Hegde’s remark on Constitution

Categories
-Top News India News Science

Meet the Astronauts For India’s Gaganyaan Mission

The four Indian astronauts were trained at Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Russia….reports Asian Lite News

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Tuesday the names of the four astronauts who will be part of India’s first human space flight program, Gaganyaan, slated to be launched in 2024-25.

The four chosen Indian Air Force pilots are Group Captain Prashanth Nair, Group Captain Ajit Krishnan, Group Captain Angad Pratap, and Wing Commander Shubhanshu Shukla. The four astronauts were trained at Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Russia.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on a visit to Kerala, reviewed the progress of Gaganyaan mission and bestowed ‘astronaut wings’ to the astronaut-designates at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre. The Gaganyaan mission is India’s first human space flight program for which extensive preparations are underway at various ISRO centres.

“India’s success in the space sector is sowing the seeds of scientific temperament in the country’s young generation,” PM Modi said in his address at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre.

“As India is set to become the top-3 economy of the world, at the same time the country’s Gaganyaan is also going to take our space sector to a new height.”

As per ISRO, Gaganyaan project envisages demonstration of human spaceflight capability by launching crew of three members to an orbit of 400 km for a three days mission and bring them back safely to earth, by landing in Indian sea waters.

The pre-requisites for Gaganyaan mission include development of many critical technologies including human rated launch vehicle for carrying crew safely to space, Life Support System to provide an earth like environment to crew in space, crew emergency escape provision and evolving crew management aspects for training, recovery and rehabilitation of crew.

Various precursor missions are planned for demonstrating the Technology Preparedness Levels before carrying out the actual Human Space Flight mission. These demonstrator missions include Integrated Air Drop Test (IADT), Pad Abort Test (PAT) and Test Vehicle (TV) flights. Safety and reliability of all systems will be proven in unmanned missions preceding manned mission.

LVM3 rocket – The well proven and reliable heavy lift launcher of ISRO, is identified as the launch vehicle for Gaganyaan mission.

Human safety is of paramount importance in Gaganyaan mission. In order to ensure the same, various new technologies comprising of Engineering systems and Human centric systems are being developed and realised.

In 2023, in a stellar display of prowess, India soared to new heights with the successful soft landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the South Pole of the Moon and the successful launch of Aditya-L1, India’s first solar mission.

These milestones not only secured India’s standing in the global space economy but also fueled the engines for the private space sector in India.

Among other feats India now aims for setting up ‘Bharatiya Antariksha Station’ by 2035, and sending the first Indian to the Moon by 2040. (ANI)

People Celebrate in Group Captain Nair’s Hometown

Celebrations broke out across Pazhya gramam at Nenmara in Kerala’s Palakkad – the hometown of Group Captain Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair – after Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced the IAF officer name as commander of the country’s ambitous Gaganyaan Mission.

The crowds gathered outside Nair’s house and started to celebrate amid sloganeering and fireworks.

Nair’s parents had gone to ISRO’s Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) centre to listen to PM Modi.

Earlier, PM Modi applauded Nair and also presented an astronaut’s badge to him.

Group Captain Nair (47) completed his schooling from Kuwait where his father worked. Following their return to India, Nair joined the Chinmaya Mission School at Palakkad.

Nair joined 93rd NDA course in Khadakwasla and then entered 163rd Pilot’s Course at the Air Force Academy from where he passed out with flying colours and bagging the ‘Sword of Honour’ given to the best outgoing cadet.

Nair was commissioned on June 19, 1999.

Nair’s long-time neighbour, an elderly woman, could not hide her happiness and came out to greet the crowd who gathered outside following the news of Nair.

“I have known Nair since the age of 4. He is a humble and polite person. We last saw him when he came home on leave, last year. He is a blessed man and his parents have already prayed for him,” said the elderly woman, who could not hide her tears of joy.

Nenmara MLA K. Babu was also among the crowd who were celebrating. “This is a huge honor for Nenmara. Each one of us is excited and proud that Nair has got this rare honour,” Babu said.

The celebrating people are also planning to give Nair a grand reception whenever he visits his hometown after his professional duties get over.

ALSO READ: DMK, CPI Seat-Sharing to be Finalised Early Next Week

Categories
Science Tech Lite USA

Odysseus: First US Moon Landing in 50+ Years

This marks the first American soft landing on the lunar surface since the Apollo era in 1972….reports Asian Lite News

The Odysseus spacecraft from the United States successfully landed on the moon on Thursday (local time), becoming the first American spacecraft to achieve the feat in more than 50 years.

With this, Intuitive Machines (IM) — the commercial venture behind the Nova-C lander — has become the first private venture to carry out a successful landing on the lunar surface.

This marks the first American soft landing on the lunar surface since the Apollo era in 1972.

Notably, this landing comes months after India’s Chandrayaan-3 lander, which became the first spacecraft from the country to safely reach the lunar surface in August 2023.

India made a soft landing on the lunar South Pole with a robotic vehicle for the first time in the 21st century.

“I know this was a nail-biter, but we are on the surface, and we are transmitting,” Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus just announced on the webcast. “Welcome to the moon.”

Although, the exact state of the lander is not yet clear, but the company has confirmed it has made contact with the moon.

The landing site of Odysseus is near Malapert A, an impact crater near the moon’s south pole.

The site is “(A) relatively flat and safe region is within the heavily cratered southern highlands on the side of the Moon visible from Earth,” according to NASA.

Moments before landing, the spacecraft started troubleshooting communication, after the passing of the expected landing time. But, an Intuitive Machines flight controller confirmed that the lander is “not dead yet” and they have received a “faint signal”.

The US remains the only country to have put humans on the lunar surface, most recently in 1972 with the Apollo 17 mission.

The space agency said it chose this landing site for Intuitive Machines’ first mission because it wanted to learn more about the lunar environment and how communications function in this area.

NASA wants to scout the lunar south pole because the space agency believes it’s the best location to set up a future astronaut base.

Meawhile, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk on Friday congratulated the US company Intuitive Machines on the moon rover landing.

“After troubleshooting communications, flight controllers have confirmed Odysseus is upright and starting to send data. Right now, we are working to downlink the first images from the lunar surface,” Intuitive Machines posted on X.

To which Musk congratulated, saying, “Congrats on landing on the moon!”. (with inputs from ANI)

ALSO READ: US to impose 500 new sanctions on Russia

Categories
Science USA

Perseverance rover confirms ancient lake on Mars

Between May and December 2022, Perseverance drove from the crater floor onto the delta, a vast expanse of 3 billion-year-old sediments that, from orbit, resembles the river deltas on Earth…reports Asian Lite News

NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover has verified lake sediments at the base of the Jezero crater, confirming the presence of an ancient lake on Mars, and reinforcing hope that traces of life may exist on the Red Planet, according to a study.

The research, published in the journal Science Advances, shows that at some point, the crater filled with water, depositing layers of sediments on the crater floor.

The lake subsequently shrank and sediments carried by the river that fed it formed an enormous delta. As the lake dissipated over time, the sediments in the crater were eroded, forming the geologic features visible on the surface today.

The periods of deposition and erosion took place over aeons of environmental changes, the radar indicates, confirming that inferences about the Jezero crater’s geologic history based on Mars images obtained from space are accurate.

“From orbit we can see a bunch of different deposits, but we can’t tell for sure if what we’re seeing is their original state, or if we’re seeing the conclusion of a long geological story,” said David Paige, professor of Earth, planetary and space sciences at University of California-Los Angeles.

“To tell how these things formed, we need to see below the surface,” Paige said.

The rover, which is about the size of a car and carries seven scientific instruments, has been exploring the 30-mile-wide crater, studying its geology and atmosphere and collecting samples since 2021. Perseverance’s soil and rock samples will be brought back to Earth by a future expedition and studied for evidence of past life.

Between May and December 2022, Perseverance drove from the crater floor onto the delta, a vast expanse of 3 billion-year-old sediments that, from orbit, resembles the river deltas on Earth.

As the rover drove onto the delta, Perseverance’s Radar Imager for Mars’ Subsurface Experiment (RIMFAX) instrument fired radar waves downward at 10-centimetre intervals and measured pulses reflected from depths of about 20 metres below the surface.

With the radar, scientists can see down to the base of the sediments to reveal the top surface of the buried crater floor.

Years of research with ground-penetrating radar and testing of RIMFAX on Earth have taught scientists how to read the structure and composition of subsurface layers from their radar reflections. The resulting subsurface image shows rock layers that can be interpreted like a highway road cut.

RIMFAX imaging revealed two distinct periods of sediment deposition sandwiched between two periods of erosion. The researchers reported that the crater floor below the delta is not uniformly flat, suggesting that a period of erosion occurred prior to the deposition of lake sediments.

The radar images show that the sediments are regular and horizontal — just like sediments deposited in lakes on Earth. The existence of lake sediments had been suspected in previous studies, but has been confirmed by this research.

A second period of deposition occurred when fluctuations in the lake level allowed the river to deposit a broad delta that once extended far out into the lake, but has now eroded back closer to the river’s mouth.

ALSO READ-Musk backs moon base, cities on Mars

Categories
-Top News Science USA

NASA proposes solar-powered plane to explore Mars

The aircraft will be able to overcome the low density of the Martian atmosphere with a magnitude higher than conventional subsonic aircraft…reports Asian Lite News

US space agency NASA has proposed to develop a new mobility Mars exploration platform that will use solar energy to explore the Red Planet.

The Mars Aerial and Ground Intelligent Explorer (MAGGIE) is a compact fixed wing aircraft with ultra-high productivity efficiency powered by solar energy to fly in the Martian atmosphere.

It will have vertical take-off/landing (VTOL) capability, enabled by advanced deflected slipstream technology with CoFlow Jet (CFJ).

“MAGGIE would be able to perform the first global-scale atmospheric mission at Mars and revolutionise our capability of exploring almost the entirety of the Martian surface. It is the first concept to enable ongoing exploration of this region of Mars and would provide a substantial leap in capability for NASA’s exploration of the Red Planet,” the agency said in a statement.

The attractiveness of airborne missions on Mars has been amply demonstrated by the Ingenuity helicopter, which landed on the Red Planet in February 2021 attached to the belly of NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover.

Originally tasked with only five test flights to prove its “pioneering” technology, Ingenuity helicopter exceeded all expectations with 72nd flights on the Red Planet.

“MAGGIE would be similarly engaging to the public, both in its audacity, and in the variety of environments it could explore, study, and image. The technology would also enhance VTOL aircraft technology on Earth and other planets,” NASA said.

The aircraft will be able to overcome the low density of the Martian atmosphere with a magnitude higher than conventional subsonic aircraft.

The range of MAGGIE for a fully charged battery per 7.6 sol is 179 km at altitude of 1,000 m. The total range of MAGGIE per Martian year is 16,048 km.

The representative mission for MAGGIE presented would conduct three atmospheric and geophysical investigations.

These include a study of the origin and timing of the Martian core dynamo from the weak magnetic fields found in the large impact basins, a regional investigation of the source of methane signals detected by the Tunable Laser Spectrometer on the Mars Science Laboratory in Gale crater, and mapping of subsurface water ice at high resolution in the mid-latitudes where it has been observed from orbit.

The conceptual MAGGIE system study indicates that the concept appears to be feasible, but needs to be further investigated, designed, and verified under Martian atmospheric conditions in Phase I, NASA said.

ALSO READ-NASA Delays Crewed Flight to 2025

Categories
-Top News Asia News Science

Japan Makes Historic Moon Landing But Suffers Hiccup

The spacecraft’s solar cell is not generating electricity. Currently, the lander is operating on limited battery power, only expected to last several hours, reports Asian Lite News

Japan created history by becoming only the fifth nation to successfully complete the soft landing on the moon with its ‘Moon Sniper’ robotic explorer, but fear looms that the mission may end prematurely since the spacecraft’s solar cell is not generating electricity, CNN reported, citing the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

The agency said it is currently receiving a signal from the lander, which is communicating as expected.

The uncrewed Smart Lander for Investigating Moon, or SLIM, mission landed just after 10:20 am ET Friday (12:20 am local time), according to telemetry data shared on JAXA’s live broadcast.

Currently, the lander is operating on limited battery power, only expected to last several hours, and the JAXA team is analyzing the data to determine the cause of the solar cell issue and the next steps for the lander. The solar cell issue may be because the spacecraft is not pointing in the intended direction, JAXA officials said.

According to CNN, there is still hope that as the solar angle changes on the moon, the solar cell may be able to charge again, but that may take some time and will depend on whether SLIM can survive the frigid lunar night, the team shared during a news conference.

The agency believes the mission has met the criteria to declare it a “minimum success,” because the spacecraft achieved a precise and soft lunar landing using optical navigation. The landing makes Japan the third country to land on the moon this century, and the fifth overall.

When asked to score the landing operation for SLIM, JAXA director general Dr. Hitoshi Kuninaka gave it a “60 out of 100,” while also mentioning that he is known for making “harsh comments.”

The team is also working to gather all of the scientific data obtained by the lander.

The lander was able to release its two lunar rovers, LEV-1 and LEV-2. The LEV-1 rover moves using a hopping mechanism and is equipped with wide-angle visible light cameras, scientific equipment and antennas that allow it to communicate with Earth, CNN reported. The LEV-2 also outfitted with cameras, can change shape to move across the lunar surface.

Meanwhile, the team is receiving a signal from LEV-1 and will see if its cameras were able to capture any images, and they will not definitively confirm the status of LEV-2 until more data is received.

The small-scale SLIM robotic explorer, which launched in September, goes by the nickname “Moon Sniper” because it carried new precision technology to demonstrate a “pinpoint” landing.

Previous lunar missions have been able to target and reach specific zones that spanned many kilometres, but the SLIM lander targeted a landing site that stretches just 100 meters (328 feet) across. The lander’s “smart eyes” — an image-matching-based navigation technology — rapidly photographed the lunar surface on approach and autonomously made adjustments as the spacecraft descended to touchdown on a sloped surface, as reported by CNN.

The JAXA team is still working to determine the accuracy of SLIM’s landing, which could take up to a month. (ANI)

ALSO READ: ‘US to Include Int’l Astronaut on NASA’s Artemis Moon Mission by 2030’