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Space
Space
Science
Mike Wall

Japan's SLIM 'moon sniper' lander arrives in lunar orbit for Christmas

A roughly cube-shaped spacecraft covered in solar panels descends to the surface of the moon.

A Japanese spacecraft just took a huge step toward pulling off the nation's first-ever moon landing.

Japan's robotic SLIM moon lander arrived in lunar orbit on Christmas Day (Dec. 25) as planned, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency announced. The spacecraft entered lunar orbit at 2:51 a.m. EDT (4:51 p.m. Japan Standard Time, 0751 GMT). 

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