Japan’s ‘Slim’ Lunar Lander Successfully Entered ‘Lunar Transfer’ Orbit, Will Make First Approach to the Moon Today – Long Mission Expected to Touch Down Weeks From Now
Japan is one step closer to joining the Moon Landing club.
The Japanese Moon Mission accomplished a major milestone this week, as the lunar module – the Smart Lander for Investigating the Moon (SLIM) – has successfully entered what is called the ‘lunar transfer orbit’ and is now heading towards its final destination: Earth’s satellite.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) announced that the SLIM spacecraft performed a successful engine burn to leave Earth’s orbit on Saturday (30).
Sputnik reported:
“‘The SLIM transitioned into the Lunar transfer orbit to head towards the Moon after successfully changing orbit at 2:40 am on October 1, 2023 (JST) [17:40 GMT, Saturday]’, the space agency stated.”
Congratulations to the XRISM teams at @JAXA_en,
