Japan moon lander wakes up

Japan’s SLIM spacecraft has resumed operations after being shut for nine days due to a power supply issue. The probe’s touchdown made Japan the fifth country to put a spacecraft on the moon

SMART LANDER FOR INVESTIGATING MOON (SLIM)

Touchdown: Shioli crater
Thin film solar cell
S-band antenna
                  
Aug 2023: Chandrayaan-3 (India) landing site 

Navigation camera
         
LEV-2 probe

Landing radar

Thrusters 

Main engines

DIMENSIONS 
Height: 2.4m 
Length: 2.7m 
Width: 1.7m 
Weight: 700kg
    
LANDING SEQUENCE
SLIM aims to land within 100 metres of target point – more precise touchdown than previous lunar landers have attempted

Hovering 
Main leg touchdown
Front leg touchdown
Stabilization
                     
Jan 20: SLIM touches down within 55m of target point, outstripping conventional accuracy of several kilometres...
... but tumbles down slope, leaving solar batteries facing in wrong direction

Jan 29: Change in angle of sunlight allows SLIM to start generating power

Lunar Excursion Vehicle 2 (LEV-2): Tennis ball-sized probe released before change shape landing – rolls around to take pictures of touchdown and surrounding area

Camera

Probe can change shape to traverse lunar surface

Sep 6, 2023: SLIM launched aboard H-2A rocket

Pictures: JAXA/TOMY Copmany/Sony/Doishisha University)
Sources: Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Space.com
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