Astronomy:Smart Lander for Investigating Moon

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Short description: Japanese lunar lander mission
Smart Lander for Investigating Moon
SLIM half scale model (alt cropped).png
Half scale model of SLIM in landing configuration
NamesSLIM
Mission typeLunar lander and lunar rover
OperatorJAXA
WebsiteNo URL found. Please specify a URL here or add one to Wikidata.
Mission duration1 year, 2 months, 18 days (elapsed) (since launch)
10 months, 4 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 sitenear Shioli crater
[ ⚑ ] : 13°18′58″S 25°15′04″E / 13.3160°S 25.2510°E / -13.3160; 25.2510[5]
 

Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) is a lunar lander mission of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The lander's initial launch date in 2021[2][6] was postponed until 2023 due to delays in its rideshare, 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, and SLIM separated from it later that 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 a spacecraft on the Moon.[8]

Background

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 perform a soft landing 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

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 November 21, 2022, JAXA announced that attempts to communicate with the spacecraft had ceased, because the solar cells failed to generate power when facing away from the Sun.[17] They did not face the sun again until March 2023.[18]

In 2017, funding difficulties for developing XRISM led to SLIM's launch being switched from its own dedicated Epsilon flight to a rideshare H-IIA flight.[19] The resulting cost savings will be transferred to develop other satellites that are behind schedule due to XRISM.[19]

Rovers

Lunar Excursion Vehicle 1

Lunar Excursion Vehicle 1 (LEV-1) is a lunar rover which moves by hopping. It has its own direct-to-Earth communication equipment, two wide-angle visible light cameras, and electrical components and UHF band antennas courtesy of the MINERVA and OMOTENASHI projects.[20]

Science payloads:

  • Thermometer
  • Radiation monitor
  • Inclinometer

Lunar Excursion Vehicle 2

Lunar Excursion Vehicle 2 (LEV-2) or SORA-Q (ja), is a tiny rover developed by JAXA in joint cooperation with the toy company Tomy, Sony, and Doshisha University.[21] The baseball-sized rover has a mass of 250 g and is equipped with two small cameras. LEV-2 extends its shape to crawl on the lunar surface using two wheels at its sides, a method of locomotion inspired by frogs and sea turtles;[22] it can "run" for approximately two hours.[23] It is the second rover of its kind to attempt operations on the lunar surface; the first was on Hakuto-R Mission 1, which crashed before it could be deployed.[24][25]

Mission

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.[26] SLIM entered lunar orbit 25 December JST.[27]

The lander touched down at the Sea of Nectar (circled).

The lunar lander, nicknamed Moon Sniper for its extremely accurate landing precision within the projected 100 meters (330 ft) long landing ellipse, touched down onto the Moon on 19 January 2024 at 15:20 UTC, at the Sea of Nectar (Mare Nectaris), 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 .[28][29][30]

Although SLIM landed successfully, the lander suffered a technical issue with its solar panels, which became oriented westwards facing opposite the Sun at the start of lunar day, thereby failing to generate enough power.[31] The lander was able to operate on internal battery power for a short period of time, but was manually powered down on 19 January 2024 at 17:57 UTC (20 January 02:57 Japan Standard Time) to prevent over-discharge of the battery.[17]

The two lunar rovers, deployed while the lander was hovering just before it touched down, are working as planned, with LEV-1 communicating independently to ground stations.[32] LEV-1 conducted six hops on the lunar surface. Images autonomously taken by Sora-Q (a capability it shares with its sister rover)[33] showed the SLIM had landed at a 90 degree angle, effectively on its nose, and there had been the loss of an engine nozzle during descent and even possible damage to its Earth-oriented antenna.[34] Irrespective of wrong attitude and loss of communication with the lander, the mission is already successful given confirmation of its primary goal: landing within 100 m (330 ft) of its landing spot.[35][36][34] JAXA gave itself 60 out of 100 for the landing.[22]

After the shutdown on 19 January 2024, the mission's operators still hoped that the lander would wake up in a few days when the sun would be correctly oriented to hit to the now askew solar panels.[32] The two rovers, LEV-1 and Sora-Q, continued to operate autonomously as planned.[33]

On 29 January the lander resumed operations after being shut for a week. JAXA said it re-established contact with the lander and its solar cells were working again after a shift in lighting conditions allowed it to catch sunlight.[37]

Animation of SLIM
Around the Earth
Around the Moon
   SLIM ·    Earth ·    Moon
SLIM landing site by Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC)
JAXA SLIM landing site imaged by LROC
Before/After animation of landing site
Composite image landing site showing surface reflectivity changes

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "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" (in ja). JAXA. 14 July 2016. http://www.jaxa.jp/press/2016/07/files/20160714_slim_01_j.pdf. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "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" (in ja). 2015-06-03. http://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/shingi/gijyutu/gijyutu2/059/shiryo/__icsFiles/afieldfile/2015/06/08/1358245_3.pdf. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Davenport, Justin (6 September 2023). "Japanese H-IIA launches X-ray telescope and lunar lander". NASASpaceFlight. https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2023/09/xrism-slim/. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "JAXA | Moon Landing of the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM)". https://global.jaxa.jp/press/2023/12/20231205-1_e.html. 
  5. ↑ "NASA's LRO Spots Japan's Moon Lander". 26 January 2024. https://www.nasa.gov/missions/lro/nasas-lro-spots-japans-moon-lander/. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Hongo, Jun (November 12, 2015). "Japan Plans Unmanned Moon Landing". The Wall Street Journal. https://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2015/11/12/japan-plans-unmanned-moon-landing-in-2019/. 
  7. ↑ "Missions of Opportunity (MO) in Development – X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM)". GSFC. NASA. https://explorers.gsfc.nasa.gov/unex_mo_intern.html#xrism. 
  8. ↑ "Japans SLIM mission aims for historic lunar landing 2023" (in English). 2024-01-20. https://gotimesnews.com/japans-slim-mission-moon-sniper-landing-mission/. 
  9. ↑ "Small lunar-lander "SLIM" for the pinpoint landing technology demonstration". June 9, 2015. http://www.dlr.de/pf/Portaldata/6/Resources/lcpm/abstracts/Abstract_Sakai_S.pdf. 
  10. ↑ "[PPS26-10 Introduction of SLIM, a small and pinpoint lunar lander"]. 2014-04-30. https://confit.atlas.jp/guide/event/jpgu2014/subject/PPS26-10/detail. 
  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" (in ja). The Sankei Shimbun. May 11, 2016. http://www.sankei.com/life/news/150511/lif1505110012-n1.html. 
  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」" (in ja). The Sankei Shimbun. January 1, 2016. http://www.sankei.com/life/news/160101/lif1601010006-n1.html. 
  13. ↑ Hashimoto, Tatsuaki (30 November 2005). "小型月着陸実験衛星" (in ja). http://www.index.isas.ac.jp/News/img/20051130/ba.pdf. 
  14. ↑ "深宇宙探査技術実証機 DESTINY+" (in ja). January 7, 2016. https://repository.exst.jaxa.jp/dspace/bitstream/a-is/560423/1/SA6000046253.pdf. 
  15. ↑ "ISASニュース 2016.5 No.422" (in ja). Institute of Space and Astronautical Science. 27 May 2016. http://www.isas.jaxa.jp/j/isasnews/backnumber/2016/ISASnews422.pdf#page=5. 
  16. ↑ "Japanese lunar lander to be built by Mitsubishi Electric". Nikkei Asian Review. May 18, 2016. http://asia.nikkei.com/Tech-Science/Tech/Japanese-lunar-lander-to-be-built-by-Mitsubishi-Electric. 
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 "After landing on 1/20 0:20 JST, power from the solar cells could not be confirmed. At a battery level of 12%, the battery was disconnected (as planned) to avoid being unable to restart for a recovery operation due to over-discharge. SLIM therefore powered down at 01/20 2:57 JST.". https://twitter.com/SLIM_JAXA/status/1749320472175800668. 
  18. ↑ "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" (in ja). The Nikkei. May 28, 2016. http://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXLASDG28H1Y_Y6A520C1CR0000/. 
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 "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" (in ja). The Nikkei. August 27, 2017. https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXLZO20437460X20C17A8TJM000/. 
  20. ↑ "小型プローブ LEV (Lunar Excursion Vehicle)". https://www.jaxa.jp/projects/files/youtube/sas/20220315_slim_lev_document03.pdf. 
  21. ↑ Hirano, Daichi (7 October 2022). "Palm-Sized Lunar Excursion Vehicle 2 (LEV-2)". JAXA. https://global.jaxa.jp/activity/pr/jaxas/no088/03.html. 
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 "JAXA Gives Itself 60 Out of 100 for Lunar Landing | JAPAN Forward". 23 January 2024. https://japan-forward.com/jaxa-gives-itself-60-out-of-100-for-lunar-landing/. 
  23. ↑ "Palm-Sized Lunar Excursion Vehicle 2 (LEV-2)". https://global.jaxa.jp/activity/pr/jaxas/no088/03.html. 
  24. ↑ Rabie, Passant (12 December 2022). "SpaceX Launches Moon-Bound Private Japanese Lander Following Delays". Gizmodo. https://gizmodo.com/spacex-ispace-lunar-mission-hakuto-r-m1-1849884016. 
  25. ↑ "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" (in en). https://ispace-inc.com/news-en/?p=2513. 
  26. ↑ "SLIM Project 概要説明資料" (in ja). JAXA Institute of Space and Astronautical Science. 25 August 2023. https://fanfun.jaxa.jp/countdown/xrism-slim/files/SLIM-presskit-JP_2308.pdf. 
  27. ↑ "JAXA | Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) lunar orbit insertion" (in en). https://global.jaxa.jp/press/2023/12/20231225-1_e.html. 
  28. ↑ "Japans SLIM mission aims for historic lunar landing 2023" (in English). 2024-01-20. https://gotimesnews.com/japans-slim-mission-moon-sniper-landing-mission/. 
  29. ↑ "15h00-16h00 GMT". Connect the World with Becky Anderson. 19 January 2024. CNN International.
  30. ↑ "Japan counts down to 'Moon Sniper' landing on lunar surface". Al Jazeera. 19 January 2024. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/1/19/japan-counts-down-to-moon-sniper-landing-on-lunar-surface. 
  31. ↑ "According to the telemetry data, SLIM's solar cells are facing west. So if sunlight begins to shine on the lunar surface from the west, there is a possibility of generating power, and we are preparing for recovery. #SLIM can operate with power only from the solar cells. #JAXA". https://x.com/SLIM_JAXA/status/1749320575103995954?s=20. 
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 Sample, Ian (2024-01-19). "Japan's SLIM spacecraft lands on moon but struggles to generate power" (in en-GB). The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/jan/19/japan-slim-spacecraft-lands-on-moon-but-struggles-to-generate-power. 
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 "Moon lander hits target, looks to be upside-down - PressReader". https://www.pressreader.com/usa/asbury-park-press/20240126/281784223967609. 
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 (in en) 小型月着陸実証機（SLIM）および小型プローブ（LEV）の月面着陸の結果・成果等 の記者会見, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U61i0wN01Uk, retrieved 2024-01-25 
  35. ↑ Jones, Andrew (2024-01-22). "Japan's moon lander forced to power down but may yet be revived" (in en-US). https://spacenews.com/japans-moon-lander-forced-to-power-down-but-may-yet-be-revived/. 
  36. ↑ "SLIM Project Press Kit". https://global.jaxa.jp/countdown/slim/SLIM-mediakit-EN_2308.pdf. 
  37. ↑ "Japan: Moon lander Slim comes back to life and resumes mission". 29 January 2024. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-68125589. 

Further reading

  • 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 日本語). Udh6kvjZYC8 on YouTube.
  • JAXA: Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (19 January 2024). SLIM Moon Landing Live & Press Conference. nvXLt3ET9mE on YouTube.

External links

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