As of: January 19, 2024, 7:48 p.m
By: Tanja Banner
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With the “Slim” mission, Japan achieved a soft landing on the moon.
The country will become the fifth nation to land on the moon.
The Japanese space agency Jaxa is making a soft landing of the “Slim” space probe on the moon.
The Japanese space organization Jaxa confirms: The landing was successful, but there are problems with energy generation.
Japan is now believed to be the fifth nation to achieve a soft landing on the moon.
Update from January 19th, 6:48 p.m.:
Japan successfully landed on the moon, with the “Slim” lander touching down on the moon and now communicating with the earth.
That was the good news.
The bad news: “Slim” is not able to generate energy independently using solar cells and is currently dependent on battery operation.
Whether the space probe is within a hundred meters of the planned target as planned will be determined over the next month.
Despite the energy problem and the fact that there were no people cheering on the livestream, the Japanese moon landing is a success.
Landing on the moon represents a significant achievement.
Japan joins the list of countries to achieve this success as the fifth nation after the Soviet Union, the USA, China and India.
Moon landings continue to pose a challenge - among other things because they cannot be adequately simulated on Earth.
Further unmanned moon landings could take place in 2024 - whether these will all be successful remains uncertain.
Update from January 19th, 6:26 p.m.:
“The landing was successful,” says a Jaxa representative.
Most systems on board the Slim spacecraft are functioning and the two small rovers were dropped onto the lunar surface before landing as planned.
Update from January 19th, 6:20 p.m.:
A question from the audience: Was the moon landing a success or a failure?
“We believe that a soft landing alone is a success,” comes the answer from Jaxa.
That's understandable: After all, most moon landings in the past have failed.
Even today, moon landings are still considered extremely difficult.
And “Slim” is still sending data to Earth.
Japan becomes the fifth nation to land softly on the moon
Update from January 19th, 6:13 p.m.:
The press conference of the Japanese space organization Jaxa now begins.
“Slim” landed on the moon and successfully communicated with Earth.
He also followed orders from Earth.
But apparently the lunar lander is currently not producing any electricity from solar energy, which is why it is powered by batteries.
Further data will be collected from Earth in order to better assess the current situation.
Update from January 19th, 6:13 p.m.:
The press conference of the Japanese space organization Jaxa now begins.
Update from February 19th, 5:57 p.m.:
In ten minutes Jaxa will provide official information about the moon landing.
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Update from February 19th, 5:20 p.m.:
The Japanese space probe “Slim” landed on the moon an hour ago, that much is clear.
The moon also has a certain gravitational pull, which means that the space probe will inevitably “land” on it.
The only question is: Was it a soft landing after which the instruments still work?
Or was it an unplanned impact on the lunar surface that the lander did not survive functioning?
Hopefully there will be an official answer from Jaxa during the evening.
Update from February 19th, 5:15 p.m.:
A short response comes from the Jaxa live stream: It will take some time until there is further information.
They want to “confirm the situation”.
Update from February 19th, 5:03 p.m.:
According to Bochum, they are receiving signals from both the “Slim” lunar lander and the small “Lev-1” rover.
However, Jaxa has not yet commented - why is unclear.
Update from February 19th, 4:46 p.m.:
There is increasing evidence that the Deep Space Network of the US space organization Nasa has picked up a signal on the lunar surface.
However, an official confirmation is still pending.
Update from February 19th, 4:45 p.m.:
There is still no official news from the “Slim” lander.
Was the moon landing successful?
It is certainly on the lunar surface, but the only goal is a soft landing after which the lander is still functioning.
The Japanese lander “Slim” is intended to land very precisely on the moon.
(Archive image) © AFP PHOTO/Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
Update from February 19th, 4:42 p.m.:
There is no further information from Jaxa yet, the status of the “Slim” lander is being further checked.
Before the end of the livestream, Jaxa employee Shin Toriumiu said, "On the screen, it looks like Slim landed on the moon."
Update from February 19th, 4:28 p.m.:
There will apparently be no more information from Jaxa for the time being - the live stream will now end, there will be a press conference later.
Update from February 19th, 4:27 p.m.:
What does the long test mean as to whether “Slim” actually landed successfully on the moon?
It's not clear yet - all we can do is wait and keep our fingers crossed.
Update from February 19th, 4:24 p.m.:
Jaxa is still checking whether the moon landing was successful.
Update from February 19th, 4:20 p.m.:
Touchdown!
“Slim” has landed.
But was the landing successful?
There is no confirmation yet.
Update from February 19th, 4:18 p.m.:
At an altitude of 500 meters, “Slim” will briefly end the descent to look for craters and compare them with internal maps of the lunar surface.
The goal is to hit the planned landing point within 100 meters.
Japanese moon landing: “Slim” has landed
Update from February 19th, 4:17 p.m.:
The vertical descent to the moon has begun.
Will the moon landing be successful?
Update from February 19th, 4:16 p.m.:
Still five kilometers to the moon's surface!
Update from February 19th, 4:16 p.m.:
Things are now going downhill - and quite quickly.
“Slim” is scheduled to touch down precisely on the moon at 4:20 p.m.
Update from February 19th, 4:14 p.m.:
“Slim” will soon be less than 15 kilometers above the surface of the moon.
The spacecraft will then search the surface for clues.
Update from January 19th, 4:08 p.m.:
So far everything looks good, “Slim” is moving exactly on the specified trajectory towards the lunar surface
The Japanese moon landing in detail.
© Screenshot Jaxa/Youtube
Update from January 19th, 4:07 p.m.:
“Slim” has now started looking for the right place to land.
Update from January 19th, 4:06 p.m.:
The 20 minutes from the start of the descent to the lunar surface until the planned moon landing are called “20 minutes of terror” at Jaxa – based on the “7 minutes of terror” that it is at There are landings on Mars.
Update from January 19th, 4 p.m.:
Here we go!
The descent to the lunar surface has begun.
Update from January 19th, 3:56 p.m.:
It starts in a few minutes!
Japan's moon landing begins
Update from January 19th, 3:44 p.m.:
Technology plays a central role in the moon landing today, but the focus is also on scientific research.
If the landing on the moon is successful, the study of lunar material is planned.
It is believed that the moon was formed by the collision of a celestial body with the Earth.
For this reason, the scientists involved are aiming to analyze the moon's material.
A region that appears particularly suitable for these studies was selected for landing.
Update from January 19th, 3:33 p.m.:
What's planned for today?
The “Slim” space probe is currently orbiting the moon at an altitude of approximately 15 kilometers.
The landing phase on the lunar surface is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m.
When it reaches an altitude of seven kilometers, “Slim” is intended to rotate so that the camera is directed towards the lunar surface.
This is so that “Slim” uses the lunar craters for orientation on the moon.
The “Moon Sniper” then navigates itself to its intended landing site, where it is scheduled to land at 4:20 p.m.
Japan is landing on the moon today – more precisely than ever before
Update from January 19th, 3:15 p.m.:
Today's mission of the “Slim” lunar lander aims to achieve a particularly precise landing on the moon.
The so-called “moon sniper” should land no more than 100 meters from its intended target.
This may not seem particularly accurate at first glance, but normally the distance between the actual landing point and the planned destination for moon landings is several kilometers.
A striking example of this is the first manned moon landing, “Apollo 11”.
The mission touched down around 6.4 kilometers from its original target.
The Japanese space organization Jaxa sees today's "Slim" mission as the beginning of a new era in lunar research: a change should take place from the need to land where possible to the ability to land exactly there , “wherever you want”.
The planned innovations also include the ability to land on uneven surfaces - “Slim” should also be able to touch down on an inclined surface.
Update from January 19th, 2:40 p.m.:
The Japanese “Slim” space probe has been on its way to the moon since September 2023.
At the end of December it entered an orbit around the celestial body and “waited” there until it started.
For a few days now, the "Moon Sniper", as the probe is called, has been lowering its orbit in order to be prepared for today's big event: a very precise moon landing - a moon landing alone is already a challenge, like the previous failed moon landings. Show plans from various states and companies.
With the exception of the Indian mission last August, all planned moon landings have failed in recent years.
Most recently, the US company Astrobotic had to abandon its lunar landing plan because the “Peregrine” lander had a fuel leak.
Yesterday “Peregrine” burned up in the Earth’s atmosphere.
“Slim” should be doing better today.
Space probe “Slim” is the “moon sniper” – precise lunar landing is planned
First report from January 19, 2024, 10:00 a.m.:
Tokyo - The Japanese space organization Jaxa has planned the ambitious climax of a mission for today (January 19): a precision landing on the moon.
The minimum goal is a soft landing on the moon, but the actual goal is far more ambitious.
The lander “Slim” (“Smart Lander for Investigating Moon”) is intended to carry out an extremely precise landing and touch down a maximum of 100 meters from the intended target.
This plan is quite daring, as history shows.
In recent years, most moon landings have failed.
According to experts, this is partly because moon landings can only be simulated to a limited extent on Earth.
The few successful moon landings missed their target by several kilometers.
The planned Japanese precision landing therefore represents a real challenge.
Japan plans to land on the moon this afternoon
“Slim” launched into space in September 2023 and the lander has been orbiting the moon since December 25, 2023.
The orbit has already been lowered for the upcoming landing.
The landing is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m.
The lander will then continue to reduce its speed from 1,700 meters per second (around 6,100 km/h).
The landing target is Shioli Crater on the eastern side of the moon.
There is a fixed landing point that “Slim” should hit with an accuracy of up to 100 meters.
Due to this planned precision, the spacecraft was nicknamed the “Moon Sniper”.
During landing, five “Slim” landing legs made from the 3D printer are intended to help cushion the impact on the lunar surface.
If the landing is successful, Japan would become only the fifth nation to achieve a soft landing on the moon.
India last achieved this last summer.
China (since 2013), the USA (since 1966) and the former Soviet Union (since 1966) have been in this exclusive circle for a long time.
Moon landings are difficult – but they are coming back
The US space organization NASA is also planning a return to the moon, but the first attempt went wrong: the private space probe “Peregrine” commissioned by NASA had a fuel leak and burned up in the Earth's atmosphere instead of landing on the moon.
In February, NASA is planning another attempt to bring instruments to the moon via a private mission.
Further moon landings are possible.
However, NASA had to postpone a manned mission again.
A manned landing on the moon is now not expected until 2026 at the earliest.
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