Japan’s SLIM Moon Lander Beams Back First Images of Lunar Surface
Japan’s Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) has successfully arrived in orbit around the moon on Christmas Day, and it has already beamed back its first images of the lunar surface.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) revealed the monochrome but highly detailed images of the crater-pocketed moon surface on its Twitter feed. The images were created after the spacecraft was successfully inserted into lunar orbit at 2:51 a.m. EST on Monday.
“SLIM successfully completed main engine injection at 16:51 and successfully entered lunar orbit! Below is an image sent from SLIM near the moon,” JAXA officials wrote in a tweet.
SLIM, which launched on Sept. 6, is set to touch down on the moon on Jan. 24. If the lunar landing is successful, it will make Japan the fifth country to achieve this feat, after the Soviet Union, the U.S., China, and India.
After successfully setting down on the moon, SLIM will verify the technology needed for landings on the moon and also solar system planets, as well as conducting up close and personal investigations of the lunar surface with a small-scale probe, according to JAXA.
“By creating the SLIM lander, humans will make a qualitative shift towards being able to land where we want and not just where it is easy to land, as had been the case before,” the space agency wrote in a mission description. “By achieving this, it will become possible to land on planets even more resource-scarce than the moon.”
The successful arrival of SLIM in lunar orbit marks a significant milestone for JAXA and Japan’s space exploration efforts. With the promise of more images and data from the lunar surface in the coming weeks, scientists and space enthusiasts eagerly anticipate the next steps in this historic mission.