JAXA has previously succeeded in placing a probe on an asteroid. 'The landing accuracy of conventional lunar landers is several or sometimes a dozen kilometers,' according to JAXA's press kit about the lander's mission. The lander is meant to reach a spot that's within 100 meters of its target: sloped ground next to the Shioli crater near the moon's Mare Nectaris (Sea of Nectar). Part of the SLIM mission's goal is to practice 'pinpoint landing' - reaching highly specific targets on the lunar surface, putting landers in areas that may hold resources or unique geology. The parts were 3D-printed with aluminum, creating a spongelike grid that deforms when it comes in contact with the ground. When the lander touched down on the moon, it was to be cushioned by five unique shock absorbers that look like a cross between chain mail and an inverted geodesic dome. The toys that became a global sensation started out as transforming robot toys in Japan in the early 1980s. A boy holds a Transformers robot figure in 2011.
