Smart Lander for Investigating Moon

Coordinates: 13°18′S 25°12′E / 13.3°S 25.2°E / -13.3; 25.2
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Smart Lander for Investigating Moon
Half scale model of SLIM in landing configuration
NamesSLIM
Mission typeLunar lander and lunar rover
OperatorJAXA
COSPAR ID2023-137D Edit this at Wikidata
SATCAT no.57803Edit this on Wikidata
WebsiteOfficial website Edit this at Wikidata
Mission duration4 months, 16 days (elapsed) (since launch)
2 days (since landing)
Spacecraft properties
ManufacturerMELCO
Launch mass590 kg[1]
Dry mass120 kg[2]
Dimensions1.5 × 1.5 × 2 m (4 ft 11 in × 4 ft 11 in × 6 ft 7 in)[1]
Start of mission
Launch date6 September 2023 (2023-09-06) 23:42:11 UTC[3]
RocketH-IIA 202
Launch siteTanegashima Space Center
ContractorMitsubishi Heavy Industries
Lunar orbiter
Orbital insertion25 December 2023 (2023-12-25) 07:51 UTC[4]
Lunar lander
Landing date19 January 2024 (2024-01-19) 15:20:00 UTC[4]
Landing site13°18′S 25°12′E / 13.3°S 25.2°E / -13.3; 25.2[5]
(near Shioli crater)
 

Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) is a lunar lander mission of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). In 2017 the plan was for the lander to be launched in 2021,[2][6] but this was postponed to 2023 because of delays in SLIM's ride share, the X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM).[7] On 6 September 2023 at 23:42 UTC (7 September 08:42 Japan Standard Time),[3] XRISM successfully launched. SLIM separated from XRISM later that same day. On 1 October 2023 SLIM executed its trans-lunar orbit injection burns. The lander successfully entered lunar orbit on 25 December 2023 and landed on 19 January 2024 at 15:20 UTC, making Japan the fifth country to soft land on the Moon.[8]

Background[edit]

The main purpose of Japan's first lunar surface mission was to demonstrate precision lunar landing. During its descent the lander recognized lunar craters by applying technology from facial recognition systems, and determined its current location from utilizing observation data collected by the SELENE (Kaguya) lunar orbiter mission. SLIM aimed to soft land with an accuracy range of 100 m (330 ft).[6][9][10] In comparison, the accuracy of the 1969 Apollo 11 Eagle lunar module was an elliptic which was 20 km (12 mi) long in downrange and 5 km (3.1 mi) wide in crossrange.[2] According to Yoshifumi Inatani, deputy director general of the JAXA Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS), succeeding in this extremely precise landing will lead to enhanced quality of space exploration.[11]

The expected cost for developing this project is 18 billion yen, or US$121.5 million.[12]

History[edit]

The proposal which later came to be known as SLIM existed in 2005, as the Small Lunar Landing Experiment Satellite (小型月着陸実験衛星).[13] On 27 December 2013, ISAS called for proposals for its next "Competitively-Chosen Medium-Sized Focused Mission", and SLIM was among the seven proposals submitted.[2] In June 2014, SLIM passed the semi-final selection along with the DESTINY+ technology demonstration mission, and in February 2015 SLIM was ultimately selected.[14] From April 2016, SLIM gained project status within JAXA.[15] In May 2016, Mitsubishi Electric (MELCO) was awarded the contract for building the spacecraft.[16] SLIM was not the first Japanese lunar lander built for operation on the Moon's surface; on 27 May 2016 NASA announced that the OMOTENASHI (Outstanding Moon exploration Technologies demonstrated by Nano Semi-Hard Impactor) CubeSat lander jointly developed by JAXA and the University of Tokyo was to be launched as a secondary payload on Space Launch System (SLS) Artemis 1. OMOTENASHI was meant to deploy a mini lunar lander weighing 1 kg; however, on 21 November 2022, JAXA announced that attempts to communicate with the spacecraft had ceased, due to the solar cells failing to generate power because of them facing away from the Sun.[17] They wouldn't face towards the Sun again until March 2023.

In 2017, because of funding difficulties arising from XARM (XRISM)'s development cost, SLIM's launch was switched from a dedicated Epsilon flight to a rideshare H-IIA flight.[18] The resulting cost savings will be transferred to develop other satellites that are behind schedule due to XRISM.[18]

Rovers[edit]

Lunar Excursion Vehicle 1[edit]

Lunar Excursion Vehicle 1 (LEV-1) is a lunar rover which will move using a hopping mechanism. The hopper has direct-to-Earth communication equipment, wide-angle visible light cameras (2), small electric equipment and UHF band antennas taken from MINERVA and OMOTENASHI.[19]

Science Payloads:

  • Thermometer
  • Radiation monitor
  • Inclinometer

Lunar Excursion Vehicle 2[edit]

Lunar Excursion Vehicle 2 (LEV-2) or SORA-Q [ja], is a tiny rover developed by JAXA in joint cooperation with Tomy, Sony Group, and Doshisha University, which had been mounted on SLIM.[20] The rover has a mass of 250 g and is equipped with two small cameras. LEV-2 can change its shape to run on the lunar surface for about two hours.[21] It is the second rover of its kind to attempt operations on the lunar surface, the first one being on Hakuto-R Mission 1, crashing along with the lander before it could be deployed.[22][23]

Mission[edit]

SLIM was successfully launched together with the X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM) space telescope on 6 September 2023 at 23:42 UTC (7 September 08:42 Japan Standard Time)[3] planning to land near Shioli crater (13.3°S, 25.2°E) via weak stability boundary like trajectory.[24] SLIM entered lunar orbit 25 December JST.[25]

The lunar lander, nicknamed Moon Sniper for its extremely accurate landing precision, of about 100 meters (330 ft) landing ellipse, touched down onto the Moon on 19 January 2024 at 15:20 UTC, at the Sea of Nectar, south of the Theophilus crater. Japan thus became the fifth nation to successfully soft land an operational spacecraft on the Moon, after the Soviet Union, United States, China, and India.[26][27][28]

Although it landed successfully, its operational state is unclear because the solar panels are not oriented toward the Sun, thereby failing to generate enough power. The lander operated on internal battery power, which was fully drained that day. The mission's operators hope that the lander will wake up after a few days when sunlight should hit the solar panels.[29]

The two LEV 1 and 2 rovers, deployed while the lander was hovering just before it touched down, are working as planned, with LEV-1 communicating independently to ground stations.[29]

Animation of SLIM
Around the Earth
Around the Moon
   SLIM ·    Earth ·    Moon

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "小型月着陸実証機(SLIM)プロジェクト移行審査の結果について" (PDF) (in Japanese). JAXA. 14 July 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 July 2016. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d "小型探査機による高精度月面着陸の技術実証（SLIM）について" (PDF) (in Japanese). 3 June 2015. Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 June 2015. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  3. ^ a b c Davenport, Justin (6 September 2023). "Japanese H-IIA launches X-ray telescope and lunar lander". NASASpaceFlight. Archived from the original on 7 September 2023. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  4. ^ a b "JAXA | Moon Landing of the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM)". Archived from the original on 5 December 2023. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  5. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 September 2023. Retrieved 25 August 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. ^ a b Hongo, Jun (12 November 2015). "Japan Plans Unmanned Moon Landing". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 3 March 2018. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
  7. ^ "Missions of Opportunity (MO) in Development – X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM)". GSFC. NASA. Archived from the original on 6 September 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  8. ^ "Japans SLIM mission aims for historic lunar landing 2023". 20 January 2024. Archived from the original on 20 January 2024. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
  9. ^ "Small lunar-lander "SLIM" for the pinpoint landing technology demonstration" (PDF). 9 June 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 March 2017. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  10. ^ "[PPS26-10] Introduction of SLIM, a small and pinpoint lunar lander". 30 April 2014. Archived from the original on 11 April 2023. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
  11. ^ "ＪＡＸＡはどのような構想を描いているのか…スリム計画を関係者に聞く". The Sankei Shimbun (in Japanese). 11 May 2016. Archived from the original on 4 November 2018. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  12. ^ "日本初の月面着陸機、今年から開発スタート 「世界に先駆け高精度技術目指す」". The Sankei Shimbun (in Japanese). 1 January 2016. Archived from the original on 30 June 2019. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
  13. ^ Hashimoto, Tatsuaki (30 November 2005). "小型月着陸実験衛星" (PDF) (in Japanese). Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
  14. ^ "深宇宙探査技術実証機 DESTINY+" (PDF) (in Japanese). 7 January 2016. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 January 2022. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  15. ^ "ISASニュース 2016.5 No.422" (PDF) (in Japanese). Institute of Space and Astronautical Science. 27 May 2016. Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 April 2023. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  16. ^ "Japanese lunar lander to be built by Mitsubishi Electric". Nikkei Asian Review. 18 May 2016. Archived from the original on 10 April 2023. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
  17. ^ "小型衛星を月へ打ち上げ ＪＡＸＡ・東大、着陸にも挑戦 18年に２基". The Nikkei (in Japanese). 28 May 2016. Archived from the original on 10 April 2023. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  18. ^ a b "小型ロケット「イプシロン」、政府が19年度の打ち上げ１機中止". The Nikkei (in Japanese). 27 August 2017. Archived from the original on 11 April 2023. Retrieved 4 October 2017.
  19. ^ "小型プローブ LEV (Lunar Excursion Vehicle)" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 September 2023. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  20. ^ Hirano, Daichi (7 October 2022). "Palm-Sized Lunar Excursion Vehicle 2 (LEV-2)". JAXA. Archived from the original on 3 October 2022. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  21. ^ "Palm-Sized Lunar Excursion Vehicle 2 (LEV-2)". Archived from the original on 3 October 2022. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  22. ^ Rabie, Passant (12 December 2022). "SpaceX Launches Moon-Bound Private Japanese Lander Following Delays". Gizmodo. Archived from the original on 15 December 2022. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  23. ^ "ispace、2022年末頃の打ち上げに向け、フライトモデル組み立ての最終工程に着手 Hakuto-Rのミッション1と2の進捗報告を実施". ispace. Archived from the original on 27 June 2023. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  24. ^ "SLIM Project 概要説明資料" (PDF) (in Japanese). JAXA Institute of Space and Astronautical Science. 25 August 2023. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 August 2023. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  25. ^ "JAXA | Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) lunar orbit insertion". JAXA | Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Archived from the original on 26 December 2023. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  26. ^ "Japans SLIM mission aims for historic lunar landing 2023". 20 January 2024. Archived from the original on 19 January 2024. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
  27. ^ "15h00-16h00 GMT". Connect the World with Becky Anderson. 19 January 2024. CNN International.
  28. ^ "Japan counts down to 'Moon Sniper' landing on lunar surface". Al Jazeera. 19 January 2024. Archived from the original on 19 January 2024. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
  29. ^ a b Sample, Ian (19 January 2024). "Japan's SLIM spacecraft lands on moon but struggles to generate power". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 19 January 2024. Retrieved 20 January 2024.

Further reading[edit]

  • JAXA | 宇宙航空研究開発機構 [JAXA: Uchūkōkūkenkyūkaihatsukikō] (19 January 2024). 小型月着陸実証機SLIM ピンポイント月着陸ライブ・記者会見 [kogata tsuki chakuriku jisshō-ki SLIM pin pointo tsuki chakuriku raibu kisha kaiken] (in Japanese). Udh6kvjZYC8 on YouTube.
  • JAXA: Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (19 January 2024). SLIM Moon Landing Live & Press Conference. nvXLt3ET9mE on YouTube.

External links[edit]

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