Smart Lander for Investigating Moon

Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) is a lunar lander mission of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The lander will demonstrate precision landing technology.[5] By 2017, the lander was planned to be launched in 2021,[2][6] but this was delayed until 2023 due to delays in SLIM's rideshare mission, X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM).[7] It was successfully launched on 6 September 2023 at 23:42 UTC (7 September 08:42 Japan Standard Time).[3] If the mission is successful, Japan will become the 5th country to soft land on the surface of the Moon. On 1 October 2023, the lander executed its trans-lunar injection burn.

Smart Lander for Investigating Moon
Half scale model of SLIM in landing configuration
NamesSLIM
Mission typeLunar lander and Lunar rover
OperatorJAXA
COSPAR ID2023-137D
SATCAT no.57803Edit this on Wikidata
Websitewww.isas.jaxa.jp/home/slim/SLIM/index.html
Mission duration48 days, 20 hours, 38 minutes (elapsed)
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 lander
Landing site13.3°S 25.2°E / -13.3; 25.2[4]
(near Shioli crater)
 

Background

SLIM is Japan's first lunar surface mission, and aims to demonstrate precise, pinpoint lunar landing. During its descent to the Moon, the lander will recognize lunar craters by applying technology from facial recognition systems, and determine its current location from utilizing observation data collected by the SELENE (Kaguya) lunar orbiter mission. SLIM aims to soft land with an accuracy range of 100 m (330 ft).[6][8][9] 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.[10]

The expected cost for developing this project is 18 billion yen.[11]

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] and is to land near Shioli crater (13.3°S, 25.2°E) via Weak stability boundary like trajectory.[12]

Rovers

Lunar Excursion Vehicle 1

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.[13]

Science Payloads:

  • Thermometer
  • Radiation monitor
  • Inclinometer

Lunar Excursion Vehicle 2

Lunar Excursion Vehicle 2 (LEV-2) or Sora-Q, is a tiny rover developed by JAXA in joint cooperation with Tomy, Sony Group, and Doshisha University, which will be mounted on SLIM.[14] 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.[15] It is the second rover of its kind to attempt operations on lunar surface, the first one being on Hakuto-R Mission 1, crashing along with the lander before it was even deployed from that lander.[16][17]

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).[18] 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.[19] From April 2016, SLIM gained project status within JAXA.[20] In May 2016, Mitsubishi Electric (MELCO) was reportedly awarded the contract for building the spacecraft.[21] SLIM is scheduled to be the second Japanese lunar lander to operate from 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 will 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 have ceased, due to the solar cells failing to generate power because of them facing away from the Sun.[22] They won’t face towards the Sun 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.[23] The resulting cost savings will be transferred to develop other satellites that are behind schedule due to XRISM.[23]

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

See also

References
  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" (PDF) (in Japanese). JAXA. 14 July 2016. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
  2. "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. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  3. Davenport, Justin (6 September 2023). "Japanese H-IIA launches X-ray telescope and lunar lander". NASASpaceFlight. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  4. https://global.jaxa.jp/countdown/slim/SLIM-mediakit-EN_2308.pdf
  5. "SLIMについて". SLIM homepage (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 4 July 2017. Retrieved 23 June 2016. ... 従来の「降りやすいところに降りる」着陸ではなく、「降りたいところに降りる」着陸へ ...'("Landing will be 'Get off where you want to get off' instead of 'Get off where you can easily get off'")
  6. Hongo, Jun (12 November 2015). "Japan Plans Unmanned Moon Landing". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
  7. "Missions of Opportunity (MO) in Development – X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM)". GSFC. NASA. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  8. "Small lunar-lander "SLIM" for the pinpoint landing technology demonstration" (PDF). 9 June 2015. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  9. "[PPS26-10] Introduction of SLIM, a small and pinpoint lunar lander". 30 April 2014. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
  10. "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. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  11. "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. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
  12. "SLIM Project 概要説明資料" (PDF) (in Japanese). JAXA Institute of Space and Astronautical Science. 25 August 2023. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  13. "小型プローブ LEV (Lunar Excursion Vehicle)" (PDF). Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  14. Hirano, Daichi (7 October 2022). "Palm-Sized Lunar Excursion Vehicle 2 (LEV-2)". JAXA. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  15. "Palm-Sized Lunar Excursion Vehicle 2 (LEV-2)". Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  16. Rabie, Passant (12 December 2022). "SpaceX Launches Moon-Bound Private Japanese Lander Following Delays". Gizmodo. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  17. "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. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  18. 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.
  19. "深宇宙探査技術実証機 DESTINY+" (PDF) (in Japanese). 7 January 2016. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  20. "ISASニュース 2016.5 No.422" (PDF) (in Japanese). Institute of Space and Astronautical Science. 27 May 2016. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  21. "Japanese lunar lander to be built by Mitsubishi Electric". Nikkei Asian Review. 18 May 2016. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
  22. "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. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  23. "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. Retrieved 4 October 2017.
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