Smart Lander for Investigating Moon
Half-scale model of SLIM in landing configuration | |
| Names | SLIM Moon Sniper |
|---|---|
| Mission type | Lunar lander/rover |
| Operator | JAXA |
| COSPAR ID | 2023-137D |
| SATCAT no. | 57803 |
| Website | Official website |
| Mission duration | Total: 7 months, 23 days Surface operations: 3 months, 10 days |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Manufacturer | Mitsubishi Electric |
| Launch mass | 590 kg (1,300 lb) |
| Dry mass | 120 kg (260 lb) |
| Dimensions | 1.5 × 1.5 × 2 m (4.9 × 4.9 × 6.6 ft) |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 6 September 2023 23:42:11 UTC |
| Rocket | H-IIA 202 |
| Launch site | Tanegashima, LA-Y1 |
| Contractor | Mitsubishi Heavy Industries |
| End of mission | |
| Declared | 23 August 2024, 13:40 |
| Last contact | 29 April 2024 |
| Lunar orbiter | |
| Orbital insertion | 25 December 2023 07:51 UTC |
| Lunar lander | |
| Landing date | 19 January 2024 15:20:00 UTC |
| Landing site | near Shioli crater 13°18′58″S 25°15′04″E / 13.3160°S 25.2510°E |
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Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM), dubbed "Moon Sniper", was a lunar lander mission of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The lander's initial launch date in 2021 was postponed until 2023 due to delays in its rideshare, the X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM). On 6 September 2023 at 23:42 UTC, XRISM launched, and SLIM separated from it later that day.
On 1 October 2023, SLIM executed its trans-lunar orbit injection burns. The lander 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. News reports of technical difficulties made it to Earth, saying that the lander's solar panels were not oriented to the Sun; however, on 29 January, the lander became operational after conditions shifted. It has survived three lunar nights, awakening again in April.
SLIM's operation on the Moon was terminated at 22:40 on August 23, 2024 (JST). SLIM, having survived three lunar nights, broke the world record for longevity among devices on the Moon that do not have an RTG.