Why Not a Sailor Moon Reference?

On Saturday, January 20th, 2024 (Japan Time - 15:20 GMT Friday), if everything goes according to plan, Japan will become the fifth nation to soft land on the moon, after the Soviet Union, the US, China, and India.

SLIM is Japan's inaugural mission to land on the moon and hopes to show that lunar landings can be pinpoint accurate. The lander will use tools from facial recognition systems to identify lunar craters as it descends to the Moon, and it will use observation data from the SELENE (Kaguya) lunar orbiter mission to pinpoint its precise location. SLIM's target soft landing altitude is 100 meters (330 feet). The Eagle lunar module from Apollo 11 in 1969 had an elliptic accuracy, measuring 20 km (12 mi) downrange and 5 km (3.1 mi) crossrange.

The spacecraft has been dubbed the "moon sniper" due to its remarkable precision in landings in extremely challenging environments; the mission's outcome will decide whether this moniker is warranted.

After earlier missions had landing zones measuring several kilometers, JAXA officials are hoping that precision technology could narrow the craft's approach to the moon's surface to less than 100 meters, a significant improvement.

According to JAXA, if the mission is successful, it will signal a shift from "landing where we can" to "landing where we want" in future flights. The spacecraft's landing target is a spot on the slope of the Shioli crater at mid-latitude, within 100 meters of a predetermined position. The lander will be able to rest on the sloping lip of the 300-meter-wide Shioli crater with the aid of five crushable, 3D-printed aluminum lattice landing legs.

Science will expand its understanding of the moon by studying the composition of rocks near craters, which have exposed the moon's interior mantle from meteorite strikes. This analysis will reveal answers to the riddles surrounding the moon's genesis.

Unfortunately, Japan's lunar exploration and space development projects have experienced a series of failures in recent years, and the perceived reliability of its technological capabilities has been greatly shaken. The successful landing of the SLIM On the other hand, Japan can show the world its expertise in space exploration if SLIM successfully lands on the moon. In addition, the information gathered will be used by the United States-led Mars Express (MMX) mission, which is expanding its global reach by collecting samples from the moons of Mars.

UPDATE: January 19 The SLIM moon lander has successfully landed on the moon and is communicating with earth. However the lander is operating on battery power only, which, together with telemetry and attitude readings, is causing many to believe that the spacecraft fell over when it landed. The solar cells are unable to produce power because they are facing away from the sun, if this assessment is correct. They may be able to be exposed to the sun as the position of the moon shifts, meaning that the lander will be able to function in a limited sense, but this is speculation at this point.