Japanese lunar lander is on its way to its final destination
The SLIM device, designed to explore the Moon, performed the maneuver and left Earth orbit on September 30. JAXA confirmed the success of the maneuver on October 2.
SLIM, Smart Lander for Investigating Moon, launched alongside the X-ray telescope XRISM on September 6. Engineers on the SLIM team spent several weeks testing to ensure all systems were functioning properly before their journey to the Moon. The monitoring was successful, so the team gave the command to start the engine and sent SLIM to the lunar trajectory on Saturday, September 30, while XRISM will remain in Earth orbit.
The Japanese spacecraft SLIM JAXA has left Earth’s orbit and is heading toward the Moon
SLIM will be on the lunar trajectory in three to four months, and the attempt to land on the moon will take place in another 1–2 months. To date, only the Soviet Union, the United States, China, and India have achieved a soft landing on the Moon.
SLIM’s landing will also have historical significance because the mission is aimed at coordinates within 100 meters of the target point – Scioli Crater, which explains the device’s nickname “lunar sniper”.
The ability to make such precision landings will allow future missions to reach hard-to-reach but scientifically important places on the Moon and other planets.
