Japan’s Probe SLIM Successfully Lands on the Moon

The Japan News

1:40 JST, January 20, 2024

Japan’s lunar probe successfully landed on the moon at 12:20 a.m. Saturday, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said.

The Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) became the first Japanese probe to land on the moon, making Japan the fifth country to do so, after the former Soviet Union, the United States, China and India.

SLIM is a small probe about 2.4 meters high and weighing about 200 kilograms excluding fuel.

SLIM was launched by an H-2A rocket in September and put into the moon’s orbit on Dec. 25.