Mission Summary
SLIM, Japan’s Smart Lander for Investigating Moon, made Japan the fifth nation to land softly on the Moon and proved a new standard of landing precision. Launched September 6, 2023, and nicknamed the Moon Sniper, it was built to set down within 100 meters of a chosen target rather than in the kilometers-wide zones earlier landers aimed for.
SLIM touched down on January 20, 2024 and achieved its central goal, landing about 10 meters from its target, the first true pinpoint landing on the Moon. But it came to rest at the wrong angle, with its solar cells facing away from the Sun, so it could not generate power and was soon shut down to preserve its battery.
The mission was not over. As the Sun moved across the lunar sky, sunlight reached the panels and SLIM revived, resuming science with its multi-band camera, which studied the composition of nearby rocks. The lander went on to survive three lunar nights, far longer than its designers had expected.
Sources and notes can be found on the Sources page.
