This picture from Japan’s space agency, JAXA, showing the “Moon Sniper” lander upside-down was snapped by one of the small robots it ejected just as it landed.
Unfortunate as the lander’s resting position is, JAXA pointed out separately that this meant its tiny, transforming robotic ball worked. It also says it still hopes the lander can be salvaged as the sun’s angle changes.
The US space agency published the below images (presented in a gallery) showing its appearance on the Moon, as seen by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter from roughly 50 miles above the surface on January 24th.
The Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) made Japan the fifth nation to make a soft landing on the Moon, although an unfortunate malfunction rendered it without power in a matter of hours.
That’s right, Trader Joe’s also thinks the National Labor Relations Board is unconstitutional, just like Musk’s SpaceX. I’m sure this has nothing whatsoever to do with the case the NLRB is bringing against the grocer, and is just a fun coincidence.
The Ingenuity helicopter mission achieved powered flight on another world, brought Zigbee and Linux to Mars, and survived close calls, lasting 33 times longer than originally planned.
But on Thursday, NASA officials said that after a loss of communication and rough landing last week its rotor blades are too damaged to fly again. The Perseverance rover that brought it to Mars is too far away to get a picture, but this picture shows the shadow of a broken blade on the Mars terrain.
Dark energy, a force responsible for the expansion of the universe, is mostly unknown. But this month, researchers released a new survey meant to unpack its mysteries.
In 2004, NASA’s solar-powered Spirit and Opportunity rovers landed on the Red Planet’s surface on January 3rd and January 24th, respectively, with their touchdown softened by multiple bounces on giant airbags. Both rovers easily surpassed their three-month lifespan: Spirit lost contact in 2010, while Opportunity made it to 2019 — traveling 28 miles during its almost 15 years in operation.
Here’s NASA’s tribute to those very ambitious missions.
AST SpaceMobile, which is building the first space-based cellular network, recently secured new investments from some familiar names: AT&T, Google, and Vodafone.
Adding up to $306.5 million, that’s a hefty vote of confidence in the company’s approach, which would harness a fleet of low-orbit satellites to make direct connections to smartphones — no special equipment required. Who knows? Space 5G could be coming to Android phones sooner than later.
The failure of recent missions highlights the challenges of relying on private entities to spearhead the US’s lunar ambitions.
The agency was finally able to take a picture of the charcoal-like space gravel of the Bennu asteroid sample after getting the canister’s last two stubborn screws out.
The picture presented here is nowhere near as interesting as the detailed and very zoomable full-res download you can grab from NASA’s site, though.
The country’s Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) used vision-based navigation (hence its nickname) to help it land on Friday. Ars Technica has a detailed explanation for how this all worked, while a translated video published on The Independent’s YouTube channel offers insight, as well.
Unfortunately, the craft’s solar panels malfunctioned, leaving it with only hours of battery left. A disappointing facet of the story. In the meantime, please enjoy this perfectly 80s arcade-style logo from Moon Sniper’s press materials (PDF).
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) says it reestablished contact by having the Perseverance rover “perform long-duration listening sessions for Ingenuity’s signal.” The agency had lost contact with Ingenuity on Thursday, just as it was ending its 72nd Mars flight.
It’s good news for the bots, which are part of the Mars Sample Return mission that’s been beset by budget cuts and layoffs at JPL.
The Ingenuity helicopter, which has been fluttering around the red planet for almost three years now, fell out of contact with Perseverance, the rover that brought it to the planet (and that it communicates with using Zigbee!).
NASA wrote yesterday that the flight, its 72nd, was a test of its systems after it was forced to land it early during its previous flight. The agency is working toward reestablishing contact.
While we wait, here’s a recent video of the helicopter in action.
Japan’s space agency JAXA is attempting a soft landing of its Moon Sniper mission. After alighting, the lander will eject SORA-Q, a transforming robot roughly the size of a baseball that was made with the help of toy company Takara Tomy.
But don’t get too attached —the robot’s battery life is only two hours.
Watch JAXA’s livestream, which is scheduled to start at 9AM ET on Friday. The landing is estimated to occur at 10:20AM ET.
