Japanese Lunar Lander Achieved Pinpoint Landing

Tokyo, Jan. 25 (Jiji Press)--A small unmanned Japanese probe that landed on the moon Saturday achieved a so-called pinpoint landing, touching down at a point within 100 meters of its target, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, said Thursday.

The Smart Lander for Investigating Moon, or SLIM, was confirmed to be standing vertically upside down with its solar cells facing west, and one of the two small rovers mounted on the probe successfully photographed the craft, JAXA said.

SLIM also took pictures of the moon's surface with its multiband camera unit, the agency added.

"We were able to achieve a pinpoint landing with an accuracy of up to 10 meters. It is a very significant achievement for future lunar exploration," JAXA professor Shinichiro Sakai, manager of the SLIM project, told a press conference.

SLIM began its final descent to the moon's surface from an altitude of about 15 kilometers around the start of Saturday and landed near the Shioli crater in Mare Nectaris, or the Sea of Nectar, close to the lunar equator around 12:20 a.m.

But its solar cells failed to generate power after the landing, forcing JAXA to turn off the probe around 3 a.m. after extracting data using its battery.

According to the agency, the jet nozzle of one of the two main engines was damaged and fell off when SLIM descended to an altitude of 50 meters. 

As a result, the probe drifted slightly to the east, eventually landing at a point 55 meters east of the target.

It is believed that SLIM would have landed just 3 to 10 meters off target had the engine error not occurred. 

JAXA said it is investigating the cause as there were no signs of abnormality up to an altitude of 50 meters.

The landing site will be exposed to sunlight from the west side over the next few days. 

Sakai said, "If power is restored, SLIM may be able to resume operations."

SLIM dropped two small rovers on the lunar surface just before the touchdown. 

Of them, a rover jointly developed by toymaker Tomy Co. and others took a picture of the probe, which was successfully sent to Earth.

JAXA said that the rover, about 8 centimeters in diameter, is the smallest robot that has ever operated on the surface of the moon.

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