Japan Scrubs Launch of XRISM Telescope and SLIM Moon Lander

SLIM is a compact robotic moon lander with no astronauts aboard. It’s about the size of a small food truck and weighs more than 1,500 pounds at launch.
The lander’s mission is not primarily scientific. Rather, it is to demonstrate a pinpoint navigation system, aiming to set down within about the length of a football field of a targeted landing site. Developing better landing technology would enable future travel spacecraft to land closer to rugged terrain that is of scientific interest. Where are XRISM and SLIM going? The space telescope will be placed in an orbit approximately 350 miles above Earth. Once there, researchers will spend the next few months turning the instruments on and running tests of their performance. Science operations will begin in January, and initial results from this data are expected in about a year.
You’ll have to be patient with SLIM on its trip toward the Shioli crater on the moon’s near side. The spacecraft will be taking a long, roundabout journey of at least four months that requires less propellant. SLIM will take several months to reach lunar orbit, then spend a month circling the moon before attempting to set down on the surface.