JAXA to Attempt ‘Pinpoint’ Moon Landing with SLIM, Centering on Precision Landing

Exploring new ways to land on the Moon, JAXA will soon attempt a newfound technique called a "Pinpoint" landing with the SLIM spacecraft for its latest demonstration coming this week. The goal is to expand more of the country's moon landing operations using the uncrewed lander which aims to learn more about the many ways to land, as well as improve on its future exploration systems.

This follows the disastrous events of Astrobotic's attempt to land on the moon with the Peregrine mission, soon returning to the planet.

JAXA to Attempt 'Pinpoint' Moon Landing with SLIM

Earlier this week, Japan and its space agency, JAXA, announced the proposed date of when it will attempt to land on the Moon with SLIM, the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon, using its unconventional way of doing so. According to JAXA, this will take place this Friday, January 19 at 23:00 JST (Japan Standard Time), offering a live broadcast for the world to see on its YouTube channel.

SLIM will take on the challenge to demonstrate the new technique called "Pinpoint," and as per JAXA, this centers on pinpoint landings for small-scall exploration landers.

In this mission, the spacecraft would determine the many factors and happenings that a lander would experience on its way to touch down on the Moon's surface.

Japan's Demonstration of New Precision Landing

While the main focus of this mission is to demonstrate this new landing technique for smaller explorers, there are also other purposes for the SLIM's current undertaking.

According to JAXA, "It will also test technology fundamental to exploration in low-gravity environments, an important requirement for future scientific."

The Moon Missions Taking Place Soon

NASA is best known for its massive missions towards the Moon, with the upcoming Artemis ventures soon taking place in the coming years, for its various uncrewed and crewed missions. In this venture, NASA aims to bring the first female astronaut to walk the face of the lunar surface, following the footsteps of its predecessor, the Apollo, which successfully brought humans to the Moon.

The East is not falling behind the West, as Japan also sent forth its SLIM spacecraft to the Moon which entered the Lunar orbit back in late December 2023, with its first part of the mission a success. However, it is not the only mission assigned by JAXA as the SLIM is also known to be a moon lander looking to bring new techniques for touching down its surface.

While 2024 was not off to a good start for the first Moon mission that took place, operated by Astrobotic, there are still slated ventures regarding the Earth's natural satellites meant to learn more about it. Japan's upcoming attempt to land on the Moon using a unique technique they developed, known as Pinpoint, will soon demonstrate this with the SLIM, soon to show the world a novel way.