ピンポイント着陸に成功　小型ロボット、機体を撮影―月探査機「ＳＬＩＭ」・ＪＡＸＡ

　宇宙航空研究開発機構（ＪＡＸＡ）は２５日、日本初の月面着陸に成功した探査機「ＳＬＩＭ（スリム）」について、目標としていた誤差１００メートル精度のピンポイント着陸を達成できたと発表した。観測機器の分光カメラによる月面撮影や、搭載していた小型探査ロボットによる機体撮影にも初めて成功した。機体は垂直に「逆立ち」した状態で、太陽電池パネルを西側に向けていることも分かった。
　記者会見した責任者の坂井真一郎ＪＡＸＡ教授は「ピンポイント着陸の性能としては１０メートル以下が達成できた。今後の月惑星探査に向け、非常に大きな成果だ」と述べた。（2024/01/25-19:56）

A small unmanned Japanese probe that landed on the moon Saturday achieved a so-called pinpoint landing, touching down at a point within 100 meters of its target, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, said Thursday.
   The Smart Lander for Investigating Moon, or SLIM, was confirmed to be standing vertically with its solar panels facing west, and one of the two small rovers mounted on the probe successfully photographed the craft, JAXA said.
   SLIM began its final descent to the moon's surface from an altitude of about 15 kilometers and landed near the Shioli crater in Mare Nectaris, or the Sea of Nectar, close to the lunar equator.
   But its solar panel failed to generate power after the landing, forcing JAXA to turn off the probe after extracting data using its battery.
   According to the agency, the jet nozzle of one of the two main engines was damaged and fell off when SLIM descended to an altitude of 50 meters. As a result, the probe drifted slightly to the east, eventually landing at a point 55 meters east of the target.