Almost a year since its launching and eight months since land on the Moon , Japan’sSLIM(Smart Lander for Investigating Moon ) mission is officially over . The Japanese Space Agency ( JAXA ) confirmed the conclusion in a press statement on August 26 . SLIM was last heard from in late April but outlive much longer than its intended mission , overcoming difficulties .
SLIM landed on January 20 , 2024 , making Japan the fifth nation to successfully soft - land on the Moon . Its precision landing place was history - making but it straight off experienced problems ; the spacecraftlanded slanted at an anglethat greatly reduce the amount of sunlight useable , leaving it to immediately run on batteries , not solar king as planned . The scientific mission had to be readjusted but it went on to go above and beyond its initial mission over the next few months .
Its main goal was achieved at touchdown , though . The mission was lay to prove that it is possible to down on another celestial consistence with incredible preciseness . Its landing place ellipse was 100 beat ( 330 foot ) from a specific pinpointed area . For comparison , Apollo 11 had an oval of approximately 20 klick by 5 kilometers ( 12 by 3.1 miles ) . SLIM did even better than expected .
“ The landing place preciseness was assess with a position error of approximately 10 meters from the quarry degree , confirm the worldly concern ’s first successful pinpoint landing place , " JAXA wrote in astatement . " In add-on , the Multi - Band Camera ( MBC ) successfully performed spectral observations in 10 wavelength band on 10 rocks , outmatch initial expectations . Further , despite not being part of the original military mission programme , the spacecraft was confirm tosurvive three lunar nightsand remained operational , attest outcome that surpassed initial goals . "
The last communication JAXA had from SLIM was on April 28 . Over the last four calendar month , numerous attempt have been made to re - make tangency with the lander . Unfortunately , none of them were successful . Still , cool science has been deport even without a response from the craft .
NASA screen the Laser Retroreflector Array on the commission and used itsLunar Reconnaissance Orbiter(LRO ) to snap a laser at the spacecraft . This approach might be useful in the futurity toprecisely locateobjects or facilities on the Moon and supply a location for a super exact landing , as SLIM has evidence .
“ We extend our deepest gratitude to all party involve in the exploitation and mathematical process of SLIM for their cooperation and accompaniment , as well as all those who advance the commission , ” JAXA say .
A full report on the scientific contribution of SLIM and its tiny robotic rovers will be published in the near future .
