The Japanese lunar probe that halted a flight when launching the Artemis 1 rocket will not land on the moon. There are hopes for a new mission to investigate in March 2023.
The Artemis program kicked off with the successful launch on November 16th. In addition to the Orion spacecraft, the giant Space Launch System (SLS) rocket also carried ten small-sized satellites into space. One of these – Japan’s Omotenashi – will be the smallest probe to date to land on the moon.
An SLS rocket carried Orion and ten cube satellites into space on November 16, 2022. Photo: NASA/Zuma press/TT
The 14-kilogram space probe separated from the SLS rocket as planned after launch. Subsequently, the Japanese space agency Jaxa failed to establish stable radio contact with the probe.
– We have determined that no contact with the space probe can be made and that the moon landing cannot be made, Jaxa writes in Twitter.
The probe may receive a new mission in March 2023
Early signals from the Cube satellite indicated The probe’s solar cells were not facing the sun and were rotating vigorously. In an attempt to nullify the spin, some fuel was released from the Omotenashi—but this did not solve the problem. Due to “insufficient voltage”, the radio transmitter is turned off.
Omotenashi stands for “Outstanding Lunar Exploration Technologies Demonstrated by Semi-Rigid Nano Impact”. The plan was for the spacecraft to make a hard landing – a deliberate and controlled landing – from 100 to 200 meters high on the lunar surface. So the probe is now sailing past the Moon instead.
An image of the moon taken from the Orion spacecraft. The Japanese lunar probe launched with Orion missed its chance to land on the moon. Image: NASA
The cube satellite will head towards us and orbit Earth before leaving our planet again. Around March 2023, we hope that the spacecraft will be better aligned with the sun so that the solar cells can receive enough sunlight to power the radio transmitter.
“We plan to resume exploratory operations around that time, and when contact with the spacecraft is determined we want to do tests that can be done in orbit,” Jaxa wrote on Twitter.
It was to become the first Japanese lunar probe
Omotenashi will be Japan’s first lunar probe and the smallest lunar probe to date. The goal was to demonstrate inexpensive technology for landing and exploring the lunar surface.
The probe is also equipped to perform radiation measurements near and on the moon’s surface.
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