JAXA Study Draws Lessons From 100-Minute SORA-Q Moon Mission

1 articles · Updated · Gizmodo · Jun 10

Science Robotics published results from SORA-Q’s January 2024 lunar mission, showing the 80-millimeter, 250-gram rover operated for 100 minutes and returned 12 high-resolution images before contact was lost.
The study says the tiny rover’s autonomous navigation, anomaly detection and self-recovery systems worked on the Moon, but some data was lost in transmission and communication likely ended when its battery ran low.
SORA-Q also helped diagnose JAXA’s SLIM lander after a thruster failure left it face down, capturing images that showed the lander’s solar arrays pointed the wrong way.
Researchers argue such ball-sized robots are best used alongside larger rovers, reaching tight vents, craters and other spaces bigger machines cannot access on the Moon or Mars.