Overview

• Japan's Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) is set to make a historic landing on the lunar surface, marking Japan's first moon landing and making it the fifth country to achieve this feat.
• The SLIM mission aims to unravel the origins of the moon through composition analysis of rocks and sampling of lunar permafrost, potentially unveiling mysteries about water resources on the moon.
• The spacecraft is using a pioneering 'pinpoint landing' technology, aiming to land within 327 feet of its target, a small lunar impact crater called Shioli.
• If successful, the technology used in the SLIM mission could facilitate future robotic probes to land precisely at their target sites, potentially aiding in the establishment of a lunar base.
• The data collected through SLIM will also be used for NASA’s Artemis project, the U.S. effort to place astronauts on the surface of the moon and build a sustainable presence there.