The hope, according to JAXA, is that the technology will make it possible for the small lander to target specific sites on the moon, allowing SLIM to land even among treacherous, rocky terrain. Other lunar landings, including NASA’s Apollo missions, achieved extreme accuracy in reaching a specific zone, but SLIM’s technology aims to bring precision to robotic probes that are low-cost and lightweight. The first US lunar lander to launch in over 50 years is headed for a fiery end.

(1/4) We've received the first image from Peregrine in space! The camera utilized is mounted atop a payload deck and shows Multi-Layer Insulation (MLI) in the foreground. The small-scale exploration lander is designed to demonstrate a “pinpoint” landing at a specific location. “The start of the deceleration to the landing on the Moon’s surface is expected to be a breathless, numbing 20 minutes of terror,” said Kenji Kushiki, the subproject manager of the SLIM mission, in a statement. The landing will be streamed live on YouTube in Japanese and English. The spacecraft, also nicknamed the “Moon Sniper” for its precision technology, will begin its descent toward the lunar surface at 10 a.m. If successful, SLIM’s landing will mark Japan’s first time putting a robotic explorer on the moon’s surface - and make it the third country to achieve such a feat in the 21st century, and the fifth country to soft-land a spacecraft on the moon since the Soviet Luna 9 mission in 1966. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Smart Lander for Investigating Moon, or SLIM, is expected to touch down on the lunar surface at 10:20 a.m. As the first US lunar lander mission in decades ends without reaching its target, a spacecraft that Japan launched is drawing closer to the moon and preparing for a historic landing attempt.

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