The SLIM spacecraft successfully reached the Moon
January 20 at 00:20 Tokyo time Japan achieved the historic landing of its SLIM spacecraft on the lunar surface, becoming the fifth nation to achieve this goal. This information was shared by Hitoshi Kuninaka, head of the JAXA Space Research Institute.
However, to fully assess the achievement of the main goal, additional analysis is necessary. As it turned out, the solar panel of the device failed to supply it with energy, which could limit SLIM activity on the Moon. At the same time, the rover sent along with SLIM actively transmits data to Earth. In the current situation, the most important thing is to collect as much data as possible about the landing and surroundings of the spacecraft using the remaining charge.
Although Kuninaka believes that the Japanese space program has achieved at least a «minimal» success, additional time is required to confirm the accuracy of the landing. Based on observations of the vehicle's movements before landing and its ability to transmit signals after, Kuninaka confidently assumes that such a landing most likely took place. He also added that the solar panel may be in an «unplanned position», but there is still hope for success.
SLIM — This is a small spacecraft whose main goal was to achieve historical landing accuracy. While previous landing zones were about 10 kilometers wide, SLIM's target was a radius of just 100 meters. This is the first attempt at such a precision landing and a key achievement for the creation of a long-term lunar exploration system.
The spacecraft, nicknamed «Lunar Sniper», at least successfully reached the surface of the Moon. SLIM began its descent at midnight and reached an altitude of 10 kilometers above the lunar surface just 15 minutes later. At an altitude of 5 kilometers, the device switched to vertical descent mode, and at an altitude of 50 meters above the Moon, it carried out a parallel movement to reach the planned coordinates.
SLIM is equipped with technology that allows you to accurately select the landing site. JAXA officials said the mission was intended to “test the feasibility of lunar landings at locations chosen based on science, not just ease of execution.” The landing site was chosen to be the Shioli crater, near an area covered in volcanic rocks, where SLIM will search for clues about the Moon's history and analyze minerals using a special camera.
The SLIM mission is of particular interest given that it comes just 10 days after the failure of the US Peregrine mission, during which the spacecraft suffered a fuel leak shortly after launch.
SLIM was sent to the Moon in September using the Mitsubishi Heavy H2A rocket and entered lunar orbit in December. Japan, with several failures in space missions, is hoping to regain confidence in its space technology — earlier this year, a Japanese spacecraft crashed while landing on the moon.
However, JAXA already has experience with successful complex landings. Their Hayabusa2 spacecraft, launched in 2014, successfully landed on the asteroid Ryugu and returned its samples to Earth.
The successful landing of SLIM at its target location is of great importance in the context of global competition in space technology. Takeshi Tsuchiya, a professor of aeronautics at the University of Tokyo, notes that it is important to prove that the vehicle lands accurately in the target area. He emphasizes that the Moon plays a key role in resource exploration and can serve as a base for sending space missions to other planets such as Mars.