Japan's attempt to land on the moon went perfectly except for one crucial detail

Japan has successfully managed to land a probe on the Moon - however, there's been just one slight hitch.

The country's space agency, JAXA, said on Thursday (January 25) that its first mission to the Moon had been successful, with the probe making its landing on Saturday (January 20).

Japan is now the fifth country in history to have reached the Moon with its SLIM probe.

The United States of America, the Soviet Union, China, and most recently, India are the other five countries to have landed on the Moon successfully.

Japan's attempt ended up taking a different turn, however.

In previous attempts, landings have targeted an area around 10 kilometres wide, but on this occasion, the area SLIM was aiming for was just 100 metres wide - a hundredth of the size.

As the probe descended, however, it encountered difficulty when one of the thrusters unexpectedly cut out around 50 metres above the Moon's surface.

This sudden issue led to a landing which was rougher than expected.

Shortly after, a pair of autonomous probes released by SLIM before touchdown sent back images showing that the probe had landed successfully - however, it did appear to have landed upside down.

Whoops!

JAXA

A statement from JAXA said that an 'abnormality in the main engine' had affected the spacecraft's 'landing attitude'.

But the probe successfully managed to land in the much smaller target area.

And it landing upside down could create further problems for the project.

Because it's the wrong way up, its solar panels are not pointing in a direction that could generate power.

According to BBC, the lander shut down three hours after landing because it's solar cells wouldn't work, leading officials to put the probe into hibernation.

Nonetheless, they are still hopeful that the probe could prove fully functional.

They are waiting for the Moon to enter its lunar daytime in the next few days - which will allow the device to recharge.

Project manager Shinichiro Sakai said that the images he had seen of the probe were the same as those he had imagined and seen in renderings of the landing.

KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP via Getty Images

He said: "Something we designed travelled all the way to the moon and took that snapshot. I almost fell down when I saw it.

"We demonstrated that we can land where we want. We opened a door to a new era."

The SLIM probe, nicknamed 'the Moon Sniper, ' is intended to find clues about the Moon's origins.

It was launched on board a Mitsubishi Heavy H2A rocket in September 2023.

After initially orbiting the Earth, it set off for the Moon and entered orbit around Christmas Day 2023.