SLIM MISSION: Japan’s ’Moon Sniper’ probe makes historic soft-landing on lunar surface

BREAKING: A Japanese lander successfully touched down on the moon this morning (Jan. 19), but it wasn’t immediately clear if the probe survived the historic maneuver. The robotic SLIM spacecraft hit the gray dirt on schedule today at 10:20 a.m. EST, but that’s about all we know at this point. “From the telemetry, what we see is the SLIM has landed,“ a spokesperson with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said during live commentary of the landing this morning. “We are now checking the status.“ The agency will hold a press conference today at an unspecified time to give an update on the lander’s health, commentators said during the webcast. #JAXA #XRISM #SLIM