Going forward, "we should be able to access the lunar surface," Hiroshi added. But it wasn't all good news for SLIM: The probe's solar panels aren't generating electricity as planned on the lunar surface, JAXA officials said during today's briefing. The probe took a long and looping route toward the moon, finally arriving in lunar orbit on Christmas Day. Those operations ramped up with another burn this morning, which took SLIM's orbit down to about 9 miles (15 km) above the lunar surface. SLIM's mission architecture hopes to shift the standards of lunar landing missions, from touching down where it's easy to setting down exactly where desired."

Source: CNN January 20, 2024 04:06 UTC