Amazing photo of Earth at 1/3 light-second: Japan's 'unique' test

Behind this photo is an important test of the Japanese ship.

Japan's SLIM lunar lander has sent home a strange image of Earth. The photo is intended to test the sensitivity of the camera that SLIM will use to support the precise landing on the Moon in the near future.

Image of Earth taken by SLIM spacecraft at a distance of 160,934km. (Photo: JAXA/SLIM).

This image serves as a critical test of SLIM's camera system , an essential component in ensuring a precise landing on the Moon.

This dual-camera, vision-based navigation system is specially designed to discern the crater's location using onboard data.

The photo was taken at a distance of 100,000km from Earth. This distance is one-third of the distance light travels in one second. In one second, light travels 300,000km.

According to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the Intelligent Lunar Lander (SLIM) was launched on an H-2A rocket on September 7, 2023 from the Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan.

It has completed its first major phase in Earth orbit and taken pictures of our planet.

This monochrome image shows the Earth half covered in darkness in the vastness of space.

The full image of the SLIM spacecraft shows Japan's location on Earth, and an image of the Moon. (Photo: JAXA).

This photo actually shows two celestial bodies, the Earth and its Moon. However, because it is a monochrome photo, and the image was taken from a very far distance, the Moon is almost invisible without a caption.

Japan's SLIM: A Different Kind of Technology Demonstration on the Moon

Craters on the Moon not only play an important role in understanding the history of the Moon, but also serve as landmarks for landers to locate themselves, based on data stored on previous spacecraft.

Japan's lander will use a similar approach as its mission aims to demonstrate precision landing technology on the Moon.

The Japanese research team said the rover on the SLIM lander has now been powered on and tested for functionality.

'During this time, a team of scientists on the ground will use amateur radio frequencies to communicate with the lander,' the team said .

SLIM is Japan's first lunar surface mission. The $100 million craft is on a long-distance journey around the Moon.

It will take several months for SLIM to reach lunar orbit and make its crucial landing, Reuters reported.

Illustration of Japan's SLIM spacecraft. (Photo: JAXA).

JAXA has not yet announced a scheduled lunar landing date, although it said it would take the spacecraft three to four months from launch to reach the Moon.

This longer route saves fuel and accommodates the mass of the lightweight spacecraft.

Once in lunar orbit, the spacecraft will prepare to demonstrate its ability to touch down within 100 meters of the target landing point.

This is aimed at verifying landing techniques, which will help with more complex landing missions in the future.

The SLIM mission differs from previous lunar landing missions by many other countries, in attempting to land in an area several kilometers wide, Iflscience said.

"The big goal of SLIM is to demonstrate the ability to land with high precision on the lunar surface, rather than landing where we want," JAXA President Hiroshi Yamakawa said at a press conference.

Japan's SLIM launch comes two weeks after India became the fourth country to successfully land a spacecraft on the Moon through its Chandrayaan-3 mission to the unexplored lunar south pole.

Japan's two previous attempts to land on the Moon failed in 2022. JAXA lost contact with the OMOTENASHI lander and aborted the landing attempt in November.

The Hakuto-R Mission 1 lander, made by Japanese startup ispace (9348.T), crashed in April while trying to descend to the lunar surface.