Photo shows Japan's Moon lander is upside-down but hit its target

TOKYO – The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is declaring its first precision Moon-landing attempt a success, even if the robotic lander is wrong-side up.

JAXA's Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) mission launched in September from Japan and arrived in lunar orbit on Christmas. SLIM successfully touched down on the Moon on Jan. 20, making history for Japan as the fifth nation to land on the lunar surface. Last year, India became the fourth country to land on the Moon after the U.S., Russia and China.

While the landing was successful, JAXA said SLIM's solar cells were not generating power. Photos sent back from two probes deployed from the lander just before touchdown revealed the problem. SLIM appears to have landed on its nose instead of its landing legs. 

SLIM's thrusters can be seen pointing toward the darkness of space when the hardware should be facing toward the lunar surface. JAXA said the position of the lander means it could not generate power from the solar cells as planned.

Engineers said about 50 meters before landing, one of two main engines stopped functioning, causing SLIM's software to attempt to control its horizontal position as much as possible with one functioning engine. After attempting an obstacle avoidance maneuver, the lander touched down on the Moon upside down.

The good news is that JAXA has data and imagery from the landing descent and on the lunar surface. The lander also achieved the primary mission goal: a landing within an accuracy range of about 100 meters (330 feet).

JAXA said SLIM landed about 55 meters (180 feet) east of its original targeting landing site. After the spacecraft attempted an obstacle avoidance maneuver, the pinpoint landing performance was about 10 meters (33 feet) or less, possibly as few as 3 or 4 meters (about 10-13 feet). 

"While a more detailed evaluation continues, it is reasonable to mention that the technology demonstration of pinpoint landing within an accuracy of 100m (330 feet), which has been declared to be the main mission of SLIM, has been achieved," JAXA said.

JAPAN BECOMES 5TH COUNTRY TO SUCCESSFULLY LAND ON MOON

The space agency said once SLIM's battery level reached 12%, the battery was turned off, powering down the lander about three hours after arriving on the Moon. 

The small lander was only designed to operate on the Moon for a few days. However, JAXA said scientists will continue to attempt to recover operations to gather more data.