Japan Lands SLIM Lunar Lander

People raise their hands after successful SLIM touchdown in a public viewing event in Sagamihara, South of Tokyo, Japan, on Jan 20, 2024.  

20.Jan.2024. 0:20 am JST. Japan announced the successful touch-down of their SLIM lunar lander to become the 5th nation to have landed spacecraft on the moon and the 2nd to have done so this century. According to latest information provided by JAXA (Japanese aerospace exploration agency) the lander encountered problems with receiving solar energy with its solar panels and may run out of power within some hours-time. The team is working to identify the issue and they seem to have found a temporary solution which we will discuss in this article.  

SLIM stands for Smart Lander for Investigating Moon and has just some hours ago become the first high precision lander to have touched down on the surface of our satellite. Its advanced design enables a margin error of several kilometers as was the case with all prior landers, to just over 100 meters. This mission was crucial for testing the limits of landing accuracy technologies which may in the future, enable scientists to target specific parts of interest on the moon, such as areas with water ice or geological uniqueness. With this, Japan has proven once again its interest in international cooperation which alongside NASA, ESA, ISRO and other space agencies are aiming for the best of 21st century space exploration. This key milestone may even result in greater accuracy for NASA’s Artemis program while providing insight for future lunar landing systems such as SpaceX’s Lunar Optimized Starship. 

Despite its very recent development, SLIM was a project that debuted in 2005 and has ever since been undergoing several processes of investigation and manufacturing until its launch in 2024. The lander measures 1.5x1.5x2 meters and is packed with a series of scientific instruments that support its landing and atmospheric guidance stages, amongst which are: advanced navigation systems, hazard avoidance sensors and optical object detectors. In addition, the lander is also set to deploy two small rovers known as Lunar Excursion Vehicles (LEV-1 and LEV-2) which use a unique hopping mechanism to maneuver along with the capability of changing their shape to traverse the lunar surface. Such rovers were part of a collaboration between Sony Group, Doshisha University and Tomy which equipped it with the necessary equipment to provide information of the moon’s surface while moving.  

Furthermore, the SLIM spacecraft also relies fully on camera sensors to feed lunar surface recognition software which scans ground patterns for possible landing hazards, thus guiding the lander to a safe location. Much like a drone, the SLIM project has reportedly worked as intended and received a 60% rating of success by JAXA’s mission executive which pointed out that they had achieved an impressive result. Even so, as has been recently communicated by the agency, it seems that SLIM has lost the ability to receive incoming photovoltaic energy upon landing and is relying on its finite battery supply. The agencies’ prediction is that unless the lander can withstand the freezing conditions of night until the sun enters an orbital path that allows for sunrays to reach SLIM’s panels, they might lose contact and scratch the mission. Optimizing power until that happens is the best solution the team of engineers have identified so far, as they wait for the result. However, with the original mission purpose of data collection at stake, JAXA is simultaneously prioritizing the transition of critical flight analysis information and processing of current data.  

SLIM Spacecraft downward-facing sensor systems.  

Sources (in MLA 9 format): 

1. "Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM)." Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 20 Jan. 2024, [en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_Lander_for_Investigating_Moon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_Lander_for_Investigating_Moon). 

2. "The Results of the Moon Landing by the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM)." JAXA, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, 20 Jan. 2024, [global.jaxa.jp/press/2024/01/20240120-1_e.html](https://global.jaxa.jp/press/2024/01/20240120-1_e.html). 

3. "JAXA’s Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) Touches Down Awaiting Solar Cells to Power." SatNews, 19 Jan. 2024, [news.satnews.com/2024/01/19/jaxas-smart-lander-for-investigating-moon-slim-touches-down-awaiting-solar-cells-to-power/](https://news.satnews.com/2024/01/19/jaxas-smart-lander-for-investigating-moon-slim-touches-down-awaiting-solar-cells-to-power/). 

4. "List of Missions to the Moon." Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 20 Jan. 2024, [en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_missions_to_the_Moon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_missions_to_the_Moon). 

5. "Japan's SLIM Lunar Lander Touches Down on Moon." CNBC, 19 Jan. 2024, [www.cnbc.com/2024/01/19/japan-slim-lunar-lander-touches-down-on-moon.html](https://www.cnbc.com/2024/01/19/japan-slim-lunar-lander-touches-down-on-moon.html). 

6. "Japan’s ‘Moon Sniper’ Landing Mission a Success." CNN, 19 Jan. 2024, [edition.cnn.com/2024/01/19/world/japan-moon-sniper-landing-mission-scn/index.html](https://edition.cnn.com/2024/01/19/world/japan-moon-sniper-landing-mission-scn/index.html). 

7. "SLIM Lunar Lander - Official Landing Footage." YouTube, uploaded by JAXA, 20 Jan. 2024, [www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bg67FAr7YQg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bg67FAr7YQg)