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. The spacecraft, also nicknamed the “Moon Sniper” for its precision technology, will begin its descent toward the lunar surface at 10 a.m. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's SLIM lunar lander launched aboard a H-IIA launch vehicle on September 7, 2023, from the Tanegashima Space Center. A new lunar space raceThe SLIM mission comes amid a renewed international push to explore the moon. If SLIM is successful, JAXA contends, it will transform missions from “landing where we can to landing where we want.”

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Persons: Smart Lander, ”, Kenji Kushiki, SLIM, —, Ray, Kushiki, Ispace’s, Luna, The Peregrine, Peregrine Organizations: CNN, Japan Aerospace, Saturday, Soviet Luna, YouTube, JAXA, Center, Ray Imaging, NASA, Getty, SLIM, Soviet, Soviet Union, The Locations: Japan, Soviet, United States, Soviet Union, China, India