Japan Moon Mission SLIM Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has confirmed that its Smart Lander for Investigating the Moon (SLIM) has successfully landed on the lunar surface but is unable to generate power. With the precise landing, Japan on Friday became the fifth country after Russia, America, China, and India to successfully land on the Moon.
Japan Moon Mission SLIM: The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has confirmed that its Smart Lander for Investigating the Moon (SLIM) has successfully landed on the lunar surface, but cannot generate power.
Japan became the fifth country to successfully land on the moon with the “precise landing” on Friday, following Russia, the United States, China, and India. The 2.7-meter SLIM landed on the lunar surface around 10:20 a.m. EST (8.50 p.m. IST).
Let us tell you that on September 6, Japan launched its mission to the Moon with the powerful X-ray space telescope XRISM.
SLIM successfully landed on the moon
According to JAXA, SLIM, also known as “Moon Sniper” in Japanese, made a precise landing within 100 meters of the intended target.
SLIM landed on the slope of Schooley Crater, a relatively new, 300-meter-wide impact feature in Mare Nectaris at 13 degrees south latitude and 25 degrees east longitude, near the moon.
During the post-landing press conference, a JAXA official stated that the soft landing was successful. If the descent from an altitude of 10 km was not successful, it would have crashed. However, it is still sending us data properly. The soft landing was successful.
SLIM is not able to generate electricity
Although mission officials were able to communicate with the lander, JAXA stated that the probe was experiencing power problems. It stated that communication had been established with the spacecraft following the landing. However, solar cells do not currently generate electricity.
JAXA officials stated that they did not know why the solar cells were not working. It may not have been damaged during touchdown, as the rest of SLIM’s hardware appears to be in working order. However, he stated that the lander may not be approaching the Sun as expected.
JAXA announced that data collection from SLIM on the Moon has been prioritized. A more in-depth analysis of the data will be conducted in the future.
“Congratulations to @JAXA_en on becoming the historic 5th country to successfully land on the moon,” NASA Administrator Bell Nelson wrote on Twitter. We value our global partnership and will continue to collaborate with @NASAArtemis.
SLIM is a cargo research mission that carries several scientific payloads, including an analysis camera and two lunar rovers.
iSpace founder congratulated
“I’d like to congratulate @JAXA_en on the successful landing of the small-scale lunar lander SLIM,” Takeshi Hakamada, the founder and CEO of Japanese startup iSpace, tweeted. I am overjoyed with Japan’s achievement of the first moon landing, and I believe it is a source of inspiration and pride among the Japanese people.
iSpace’s Hakuto-R Mission 1 lander crashed in April 2023 while attempting to land on the lunar surface. Hakamada stated that iSpace will “once again aim for the Moon” next year.
