Japan’s SLIM space probe achieved a significant milestone by entering the Moon’s orbit on Monday, marking a crucial advancement toward Japan’s anticipated inaugural lunar landing, projected to occur next month.
Dubbed the “Moon Sniper,” the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon is engineered to touch down within 100 meters (328 feet) of a predetermined target on the lunar surface.
If this endeavor proves successful, Japan will join the exclusive group of nations United States, Russia, China, and India that have accomplished the feat of landing a probe on the Moon.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency confirmed SLIM’s successful entry into the Moon’s orbit at 04:51 pm Japan time (0751 GMT) on Monday, as announced in a statement released later that evening.
“Its trajectory shift was achieved as originally planned, and there is nothing out of the ordinary about the probe’s conditions,” the agency said.
The lander is anticipated to commence its descent towards the moon at approximately 12:00 am Japan time on January 20, with the scheduled landing slated just 20 minutes later, as per JAXA’s announcement.
Following three weather-related delays, the H-IIA rocket embarked on its journey from Tanegashima’s southern island back in September, carrying the lander payload.
JAXA highlighted this month that the mission aims for an “unprecedentedly high precision landing” on the lunar surface.
A spherical probe developed by a toy company equips the lander, slightly larger than a tennis ball, possessing the capability to alter its shape to navigate the lunar terrain.
In a significant leap from past missions, SLIM’s reported margin of error under 100 meters represents an astonishing level of accuracy, contrasting previous landings that missed targets by “a few or 10-plus kilometers.” JAXA credits this achievement to a 20-year collaborative effort by researchers.
Shinichiro Sakai, JAXA’s SLIM project manager, highlighted the increasing demand driven by technological advancements to precisely identify targets such as craters and rocks on the lunar surface in an address to reporters earlier this month.
