Japanese lander lands on the Moon

Japan's unmanned spacecraft Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) arrived on the Moon's surface at 9:20 p.m. on January 19, Hanoi time, but JAXA has not yet confirmed whether the mission was successful or not.

Simulation of the SLIM spacecraft on the surface of the Moon. Photo: JAXA — Simulation of the SLIM spacecraft on the surface of the Moon. Photo: *JAXA*

Japan's Moon Sniper robotic probe has reached the lunar surface, but its condition is unknown, according to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). JAXA said it is still checking the status of the lander and will provide an update later.

If successful, the mission would make Japan the third country to land a spacecraft on the lunar surface this century and the fifth to do so in history. The SLIM small probe launched last September has been nicknamed "Moon Sniper" because it uses new precision landing technology, according to CNN .

Previous lunar missions could target and reach specific areas spanning many kilometers, but the SLIM lander is targeting a landing site just 100 meters wide. Its “smart eyes,” a photo-matching navigation technology, will rapidly capture images of the lunar surface during its approach and automatically adjust as the spacecraft descends for a more precise landing.

SLIM is a small spacecraft, 2.4 meters high, 2.7 meters long and 1.7 meters wide. It weighs 700 kilograms at liftoff, but fuel accounts for about 70 percent of its weight. SLIM carries two mini-probes, which it releases onto the lunar surface after landing. The pair of mini-probes will help mission control monitor the health of the larger lander, take pictures of the landing site and provide direct communications with Earth.

SLIM is aiming for a landing site near the small Shioli crater inside a delta called the Sea of Nectar, created by ancient volcanic activity and located south of the Sea of Tranquility, where the Apollo 11 touched down in 1969. If the lander succeeds, it will quickly study the rocks at the site, helping to understand the origin of the Moon.

When meteorites and other objects hit the Moon, they create craters and fragments of rock across the surface. These rocks are of interest to scientists because studying them is a useful way to look at the Moon’s interior. The minerals and other composition of the rocks can provide more information about how the Moon formed. Landing near the rocky slopes surrounding the craters is a dangerous process that most missions avoid, but JAXA believes the lander has the technology to safely touch down on such terrain.

Several space agencies and countries have carried out lunar landing missions over the past year, with both successes and failures. India became the fourth country after the US, the Soviet Union and China to make a controlled landing on the moon when its Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft reached the south pole in August 2023.

Meanwhile, the Japanese company Ispace’s Hakuto-R lunar lander crashed 3 miles (4.8 km) into the Moon during a landing attempt in April last year. Russia’s Lunar-25 spacecraft also failed in August of the same year during its first attempt to return to the Moon since the Soviet era. More recently, Astrobotic Technology’s Peregrine spacecraft, the first US lunar lander to launch in five decades, suffered a serious fuel leak that prevented it from landing safely.

Part of the motivation behind the Moon race is the goal of accessing water ice in the shadow of the Moon’s south pole, which could be used for drinking water or fuel as humans push forward with future space exploration.

An Khang (According to CNN )

Source link