Japan’s unmanned spacecraft called SLIM (Smart Lander for Investigating Moon), which was sent into orbit in September to collect topographic information such as the shape of moon craters, made a soft landing on the moon yesterday at around 00.20 local time. The landing made Japan the fifth country to make a soft landing on the moon with a spacecraft.

JAXA stated at the press conference that the spacecraft re-established communication with the Earth but could not produce electricity because the solar panels were probably at the wrong angle. Priority has been given to the ability of the vehicle, which currently runs only on its own battery, to be able to transmit its data to the world.