By 
August 7th, 2023
Image credit: JAXA
Japan’s Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) is set for liftoff on August 26, co-riding with the country’s X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM).
An H-IIA launch vehicle carrying the payloads will depart the Yoshinobu Launch Complex at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA) Tanegashima Space Center.
Image credit: JAXA/ISAS
Pinpoint landing
The SLIM project aims to demonstrate pinpoint landing and obstacle detection techniques for touching down on the Moon.
SLIM researchers are eager to convert conventional exploration of “descending where it is easy to land’” to “descending where you want to land.”
The SLIM project is led by members of the JAXA Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS), and researchers from universities and other institutions across the country are working together to advance examination and development.
Image credit: JAXA/ISAS
Pre-loaded memory
After reaching the sky above the landing site, the SLIM is to descend almost vertically while detecting the altitude with a landing radar. During this vertical descent phase, obstacle detection is performed at roughly 300 meters above the lunar terrain.
SLIM is designed to process images captured by pointing a camera toward the lunar surface, recognizes craters, and compares them with the map of the lunar surface pre-loaded in memory to accurately measure its own position. SLIM engineers have developed a dedicated image processing algorithm with high computational efficiency to achieve both accuracy and processing time.
Image credit: JAXA/SLIM Project
Target site
For showcasing landing technologies, the SLIM team has selected a target site neighboring the Shioli crater near the “Sea of Nectar.” The area has a relatively constant slope of 15 degrees or less, according to a SLIM press kit. “Therefore, the method of landing safely on such a slope becomes important.”
Landing on such sloping area will be increasingly required in the future.
In the case of SLIM, the main landing gear first touches the ground and then rotates forward to stabilize. This technique has shown excellent reliable landing results through simulation, the press kits states.
Transformer
SLIM is to deploy a palm-sized Lunar Excursion Vehicle 2 (LEV-2) jointly developed with toy manufacturer, Takara Tomy, along with the Sony Group Corporation and Doshisha University.
Image credit: JAXA/ISAS
The ball-shaped vehicle — SORA-Q — is equipped with two cameras and can transform its shape to traverse the lunar surface.
The wheels that move freely left and right can run in two types of running modes, “butterfly running” and “crawling running” because the rotating shaft is eccentric, according to the Takara Tomy company.
Image credit: Takara Tomy/JAXA/ISAS
Image credit: Takara Tomy
The popular toy manufacturer is scheduled to release SORA-Q for public purchase in early September 2023. Manufacturer’s suggested retail price: 27,500 yen (tax included).
Go to this Takara Tomy video at: https://youtu.be/PupLqwt4d2o
Also, go to this JAXA briefing in Japanese that details the SLIM initiative.
Posted in Space News
