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The John Batchelor Show

PREVIEW: The private Japanese launched lunar lander SLIM is on the surface of the moon on target and upside down. The twist is that it is now in communication. Robots do not have upside downs. More later on space engineering.

The John Batchelor Show

John Batchelor

Society & Culture, Arts, News, Books

4.52.8K Ratings

🗓️ 1 February 2024

⏱️ 3 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

PREVIEW: The private Japanese launched lunar lander SLIM is on the surface of the moon on target and upside down. The twist is that it is now in communication. Robots do not have upside downs. More later on space engineering.

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Transcript

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0:00.0

This is John Bachelor, a report from Bob Zimmerman, my colleague Behind the Black, about Slim, a private

0:08.3

probe launched by the Japanese landing on the surface of the moon in communication with Earth.

0:15.4

Here's the cool part.

0:16.9

It landed upside down.

0:19.2

The confirmation of its landing site, Bob reports, and the fact that the photograph comes back of Slim upside down is an additional bonus of two little rovers that were attached to Slim and took the picture as they backed away

0:36.2

from their mothership. Upside down Slim on the surface of the moon. Great fun.

0:41.6

Good evening, John. this is a Slim.

0:43.7

It was a Japanese lura land that did successfully land last week on the moon, but it did so upside

0:49.5

down.

0:50.5

However, it didn't get damaged landing upside down because it came down softly.

0:55.2

And so they were able to communicate with it, but because it was upside down, it sell the panel

0:59.1

faced in the wrong direction.

1:01.4

They hoped that as the sun began setting during its long 2014-day long lunar day,

1:09.6

the sun would hit the solar panel and bring a slim to life and that's the news Slim has

1:15.7

successfully come back to life. Jackson, a Japan Space Agency, has re-established

1:21.8

communications.

1:23.2

They've started to operate the instruments on board.

1:26.2

It can do some science, and it's going to do that.

1:29.8

It's sending images back, which will help them better understand exactly what happened at the landing

1:37.0

But the main thing is it is working and that just once again proves it's a successful mission.

1:42.8

Let me go right to the second Slim story, John.

1:46.0

The American orbit, a lunar reconnaissance orbit around,

...

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