The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) announced that the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) was successfully inserted into lunar orbit at 16:51 (Japan Standard Time, JST) on December 25, 2023.
The lunar orbit of SLIM will be inserted into an elliptical lunar orbit connecting the Moon’s north and south poles with a period of approximately 6.4 hours, and an altitude of about 600 km (~370 miles) at the closest point to the Moon (perilune), and 4,000 km (~2,500 miles) at the furthest point from the Moon (apolune). The orbit change proceeded as planned, and the spacecraft is currently in a normal condition.
Light blue line: Current lunar orbit.
Future plans:
Green line: Circular orbit at an altitude of approximately 600 km.
Yellow line: Altitude approximately 600km x 150km on an elliptical orbit.
Red line: Altitude approximately 600km x 15km on an elliptical orbit. Credit: JAXA
From now until mid-January 2024, the apolune point will be lowered, and the orbit adjusted to a circular orbit at an altitude of approximately 600km. The perilune point will then lower and preparations for landing will begin. On January 19, the perilune point will be lowered to an altitude of 15 km (~9 miles), and the descent towards the Moon will start at around 0:00 a.m. (JST) on January 20. Landing on the lunar surface is scheduled for around 0:20 a.m. (JST) on January 20.
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