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Japan's SLIM Spacecraft Achieves Historic Precision Lunar Landing

Despite landing upside down, JAXA remains hopeful for mission recovery as two deployed rovers continue operations.

a roughly cube-shaped spacecraft wrapped in gold foil on the surface of the moon
A black and white image of the surface of the moon taken from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. A white arrow in the center of the image points to the location of the SLIM lander.
A lunar surface scan mosaic image captured by the SLIM-mounted MBC.
Image

Overview

  • Japan's Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) spacecraft successfully landed on the moon, making Japan the fifth nation to achieve a soft lunar landing.
  • SLIM landed within 55 meters of its target, demonstrating unprecedented precision in lunar landing technology.
  • Despite the successful landing, SLIM ended up upside down, causing its solar panels to face away from the sun and preventing power generation.
  • Two small rovers, LEV-1 and LEV-2, were successfully deployed from SLIM before landing and are currently operating as planned.
  • JAXA is hopeful that SLIM's solar panels might be able to absorb enough sunlight to generate power and recover the mission when the sun's angle changes.