Astronomy

Over 200 dedicated professionals from ESA, EUSPA and European industry across four Galileo centres and seven external entities have seamlessly upgraded Galileo’s massive ground segment. In a remarkable feat of coordination and precision involving the deployment of 400 items, and after five months of rehearsals, Galileo’s ground segment, the largest in Europe, has transitioned seamlessly to System Build 2.0.

A pulsar, the spinning remnants of a star that blew up in a supernova, has been spotted rotating at a comparatively slow rate of once every 54 minutes. That means it may be about to cross the "death-line" - the first time we have seen one of these stars die a second death

A pulsar, the spinning remnants of a star that blew up in a supernova, has been spotted rotating at a comparatively slow rate of once every 54 minutes. That means it may be about to cross the "death-line" - the first time we have seen one of these stars die a second death

Researchers trained a hawk outfitted with microphones to fly through a swarm of 600,000 bats, revealing how they can hear their own voice in a crowd

Researchers trained a hawk outfitted with microphones to fly through a swarm of 600,000 bats, revealing how they can hear their own voice in a crowd

Americans don’t like being told what to do, and many don’t trust government. These stubborn attitudes might turn H5N1 bird flu into a pandemic

A film made of lithium niobate and gratings of silicon dioxide converts infrared light into visible light better than the other leading compound, potentially allowing nighttime vision

A film made of lithium niobate and gratings of silicon dioxide converts infrared light into visible light better than the other leading compound, potentially allowing nighttime vision

COVID numbers are low, but some evidence suggests they could be rising. Here’s how to protect yourself this summer, according to experts

A 25-year study shows that teens who receive empathy from their parents give more empathy to their peers and, later, their own children

SpaceX is getting ready to launch its massive Starship rocket tomorrow and we have all the details on the mission

SpaceX is getting ready to launch its massive Starship rocket tomorrow and we have all the details on the mission

Five children have had gene therapy to treat inherited deafness, this time in both ears, following the success of earlier treatments in just one ear

Five children have had gene therapy to treat inherited deafness, this time in both ears, following the success of earlier treatments in just one ear

An atmospheric phenomenon known as STEVE has a secret twin that appears before the break of dawn and flows in the opposite direction, new research finds.

Make the best of the “double brood” of cicadas with insect kimchi and tempura-fried bugs.

These Father's Day Unistellar smart telescope deals are sitewide

On January 19th, 2024, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) successfully landed its Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) on the lunar surface. In so doing, JAXA became the fifth national space agency to achieve a soft landing on the Moon – after NASA, the Soviet space program (Interkosmos), the European Space Agency, and the China National Space Agency (CNSA). SLIM has since experienced some technical difficulties, which included upending shortly after landing, and had to be temporarily shut down after experiencing power problems when its first lunar night began.

On the Moon, the day/night cycle lasts fourteen days at a time, which has a drastic effect on missions that rely on solar panels. Nevertheless, SLIM managed to reorient its panels and recharge itself and has survived three consecutive lunar nights since it landed. However, when another lunar night began on May 27th, JAXA announced that they had failed to establish communications with the lander. As a result, all science operations were terminated while mission controllers attempt to reestablish communications, which could happen later this month.

As JAXA stated via its official X account (formerly Twitter):

“We tried again on the night of the 27th, but there was no response from #SLIM. As the sun went down around SLIM on the night of the 27th, it became impossible to generate electricity, so unfortunately this month’s operation will end. Thank you very much for the overwhelming support you have shown us since our post the day before.”

27??????????????????#SLIM ???????????????27??????SLIM??????????????????????? ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????#JAXA

— ????????SLIM (@SLIM_JAXA) May 28, 2024

JAXA further indicated that the command transmission to restore communication was performed using an “unplanned ground station antenna” and with the cooperation of JAXA’s tracking network.” They also indicated that they plan to try reestablishing communications once the current lunar night ends later this month – at which point, they expect the lander will be recharged. “The power was turned off overnight, so we hope that the whole system will be reset and restarted,” they wrote.

The SLIM mission also carried two rovers, which separated from it in lunar orbit and landed independently on the same day. Known as the Lunar Excursion Vehicle-1 and -2 (LEV-1 and LEV-2), these rovers are the first Japanese robotic missions to traverse and explore the lunar surface. According to JAXA, LEV-1 is the world’s first “hopping exploration rover” while LEV-2 is the world’s smallest and lightest. During the four months since they landed, LEV-1 has measure the local temperatures, topography, and taken images.

The rovers can conduct operations autonomously and transmit data to Earth directly without assistance from the lander. As such, JAXA’s mission controllers are still likely to hear from LEV-1 and LEV-2 while attempting to restore communications with SLIM.

Further Reading: Twitter.com

The post Japan’s Lunar Lander Fails to Check-in appeared first on Universe Today.

We have about five years worth of carbon emissions before we drive global warming beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit), a new report concluded.

SpaceX launched another batch of its Starlink internet satellites on June 4, including 13 that can beam service directly to smartphones.