Editing JAXA (section)

=== Lunar exploration ===
{{Main|Japanese Lunar Exploration Program}}
[[File:Selene.gif|thumb|''[[SELENE|Kaguya]]'']]
After [[Hiten (spacecraft)|Hiten]] in 1990, JAXA planned a lunar penetrator mission called [[LUNAR-A]] but after delays due to technical problems, the project was terminated in January 2007. The seismometer penetrator design for LUNAR-A may be reused in a future mission.

On 14 September 2007, JAXA succeeded in launching the lunar orbit explorer ''[[SELENE|Kaguya]]'', also known as SELENE, on an [[H-2A]] rocket (costing 55 billion yen including launch vehicle), the largest such mission since the [[Apollo program]]. Its mission was to gather data on the [[Moon#Formation|Moon's origin and evolution]]. It entered lunar orbit on 4 October 2007.<ref>{{Cite press release|url=https://www.jcnnewswire.com/?aspxerrorpath=/Article.Asp|title=JCN Newswire &#124; Asia Press Release Distribution|website=www.jcnnewswire.com|accessdate=20 December 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6994272.stm|title=Japan launches first lunar probe|work=BBC News | date=14 September 2007}}</ref> After 1 year and 8 months, it impacted the lunar surface on 10 June 2009 at 18:25 UTC.

JAXA launched its first lunar surface mission [[Smart Lander for Investigating Moon|SLIM]] (Smart Lander for Investigating Moon) in 2023. It successfully soft landed on 19 January 2024 at 15:20 UTC, making Japan the 5th country to do so.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2024/01/19/japan-slim-lunar-lander-touches-down-on-moon.html | title=Japan announces successful SLIM lunar landing, fifth country to reach moon's surface | website=[[CNBC]] | date=19 January 2024 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Chang |first=Kenneth |date=2024-01-19 |title=Japan Becomes Fifth Country to Land on the Moon |url=https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/01/12/science/japan-moon-landing-slim |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> The main goal of SLIM was to improve the accuracy of spacecraft landing on the Moon and to land a spacecraft within 100 meters of its target, which no spacecraft had achieved before. SLIM landed 55 meters from the target landing site, and JAXA announced that it was the world's first successful "pinpoint landing.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20240130141641/https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20240125/k10014333951000.html 月面探査機 JAXA 世界初の「ピンポイント着陸」に成功と発表.] [[NHK]]. 25 January 2024</ref> Although it landed successfully, it landed with the solar panels oriented westwards, facing away from the Sun at the start of [[lunar day]], thereby failing to generate enough power.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Chang |first1=Kenneth |last2=Ueno |first2=Hisako |date=January 25, 2024 |title=Japan Explains How It Made an Upside-Down Moon Landing |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/25/science/japan-moon-lander-slim.html |access-date=February 21, 2024 |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> The lander operated on internal battery power, which was fully drained that day. The mission's operators hope that the lander will wake up after a few days when sunlight should hit the solar panels.<ref name=":8">{{Cite news |last1=Sample |first1=Ian |date=2024-01-19 |title=Japan's Slim spacecraft lands on moon but struggles to generate power |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/jan/19/japan-slim-spacecraft-lands-on-moon-but-struggles-to-generate-power |access-date=2024-01-20 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

Two rovers, LEV 1 and 2, deployed during hovering just before final landing are working as expected with LEV-1 communicating independently to the ground stations.<ref name=":8" /> LEV-1 conducted seven hops over 107 minutes on the lunar surface. Images taken by LEV-2 show that it landed in the wrong attitude with loss of an engine nozzle during descent and even possible sustained damage to lander's Earth bound antenna which is not pointed towards Earth.<ref name="youtube.com">{{Citation |title=小型月着陸実証機（SLIM）および小型プローブ（LEV）の月面着陸の結果・成果等 の記者会見 | date=24 January 2024 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U61i0wN01Uk |access-date=2024-01-25 |language=en}}</ref>  The mission was considered fully successful after confirmation that its primary goal, landing within {{cvt|100|m}} of the target was achieved, despite subsequent issues.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jones |first=Andrew |date=2024-01-22 |title=Japan's moon lander forced to power down but may yet be revived |url=https://spacenews.com/japans-moon-lander-forced-to-power-down-but-may-yet-be-revived/ |access-date=2024-01-25 |website=SpaceNews |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=SLIM Project Press Kit |url=https://global.jaxa.jp/countdown/slim/SLIM-mediakit-EN_2308.pdf |website=JAXA}}</ref><ref name="youtube.com"/>

On 29 January, the lander resumed operations after being shut down for a week. JAXA said it re-established contact with the lander and its solar cells were working again after a shift in lighting conditions allowed it to catch sunlight.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-68125589 |title=Japan: Moon lander Slim comes back to life and resumes mission |date=29 January 2024 |access-date=2024-01-31 |via=www.bbc.com}}</ref> After that, SLIM was put into sleep mode due to the approaching harsh [[lunar night]] where temperatures reach {{Convert|-120|C|F}}. SLIM was expected to operate only for one lunar daylight period, which lasts for 14 Earth days, and the on-board electronics were not designed to withstand the nighttime temperatures on the Moon. On 25 February 2024, JAXA sent wake-up calls and found SLIM had successfully survived the night on the lunar surface while maintaining communication capabilities. At that time it was solar noon on the Moon so the temperature of the communications equipment was extremely high, so communication was terminated after only a short period of time. JAXA is now preparing for resumed operations, once the temperature has fallen sufficiently. The feat of surviving lunar night without a [[Radioisotope heater unit]] had only been achieved by some landers in [[Surveyor Program]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Last night I sent a command and got a response from SLIM. SLIM successfully survived the night on the lunar surface while maintaining communication capabilities! Last night, as it was still midday on the moon, the temperature of the communication equipment was extremely high, so communication was terminated after only a short period of time. From now on, preparations will be made so that observations can be resumed once the temperature has fallen sufficiently. |url=https://twitter.com/SLIM_JAXA/status/1761973417820238275 |website=X ( Formerly Twitter)}}</ref>