Japan is close to becoming the 3rd nation to land on the moon in the 21st century. The US isn't one of them.

Wed, 12/27/2023 - 15:37

a gold rover rests on the moon surface — An illustration of JAXA's SLIM spacecraft on the moon.
JAXA

Japan is weeks from attempting to land its SLIM spacecraft on the moon.
If SLIM succeeds, it will become the first Japanese spacecraft to land on the moon.
And Japan would be the third country, behind China and India, to land on the moon this century.

On Monday, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency announced its SLIM moon lander had reached a crucial milestone in its historic mission: The spacecraft started to orbit the moon.

Over the next several weeks, SLIM — short for Smart Lander for Investigating Moon — will tighten its orbit, inching closer to the lunar surface.

Then, on January 19, 2024, the nation is scheduled to attempt what only a couple of other nations have achieved before it.