Hot on the heels of India's historic lunar landing, Japan's space programme is hoping to rebound from a string of setbacks next week with the launch of its own mission: "Moon Sniper".
The rocket will carry a lander expected to reach the Moon's surface in four to six months as well as an x-ray imaging satellite designed to investigate the evolution of the universe.
The launch is scheduled to take place Monday after bad weather pushed it back by a day, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said Friday.
Japan's space programme is one of the world's largest, but its first attempt to put a lander on the Moon failed in November 2022, and a new type of rocket exploded during a test last month.
JAXA's hopes are now centred on the "Smart Lander for Investigating Moon".
As its acronym suggests, SLIM is small and light, standing 2.4 metres (7.9 feet) high, 2.7 metres wide and 1.7 metres long, and weighing around 700 kilogrammes (1,545 pounds).
Dubbed the "Moon Sniper" for its precision, JAXA is aiming to land it within 100 metres of a specific target on the Moon, far less than the usual range of several kilometres.
Using a palm-sized mini rover that can change shape, the probe -- developed with a toy company -- aims to investigate how the Moon was formed by examining exposed pieces of the lunar mantle.
"Lunar landing remains a very difficult technology," Shinichiro Sakai from the SLIM project team told reporters on Thursday while paying homage to India's success.
"To follow suit, we will do our best in our own operations," Sakai said.
- India success -
On Wednesday, India landed a craft near the Moon's south pole, a historic triumph for the world's most populous nation and its low-cost space programme.
Previously, only the United States, Russia and China had managed to put a spacecraft on the lunar surface, and none on the south pole.
India's success came days after a Russian probe crashed in the same region and four years after the previous Indian attempt failed at the last moment.
Japan has also tried before, attempting last year to land a lunar probe named Omotenashi, carried on NASA's Artemis 1, but the mission went wrong and communications were lost.
And in April, Japanese start-up ispace failed in an ambitious attempt to become the first private company to land on the Moon, losing communication after what the firm called a "hard landing".
Japan has also had problems with launch rockets, with failures after liftoff of the next-generation H3 model in March and the normally reliable solid-fuel Epsilon the previous October.
Last month, the test of an Epsilon S rocket, an improved version of the Epsilon, ended in an explosion 50 seconds after ignition.
- Plasma wind -
The workhorse H2-A rocket launching from Tanegashima in southern Japan on Monday will also carry the X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM) developed by JAXA, NASA and the European Space Agency.
The satellite's high-resolution X-ray spectroscopic observations of the hot gas plasma wind that blows through the universe will help study the flows of mass and energy as well as the composition and evolution of celestial objects.
"There is a theory that dark matter is preventing galaxies from expanding," explained XRISM project manager Hironori Maejima.
"The question of why dark matter does not converge, and what are the forces that spread it, is expected to be clarified by measuri
ng plasma with XRISM."
Artificial Intelligence Analysis
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Analyst Summary
:
Japan’s space programme is hoping to rebound from a string of setbacks next week with the launch of its own mission, “Moon Sniper”. The rocket will carry a lander expected to reach the Moon’s surface in four to six months, as well as an x-ray imaging satellite designed to investigate the evolution of the universe. The launch is scheduled to take place Monday. Japan’s space programme is one of the world’s largest, but its first attempt to put a lander on the Moon failed in November 2022, and a new type of rocket exploded during a test last month. JAXA’s hopes are now centred on the “Smart Lander for Investigating Moon”, which is small and light, standing
2.4 metres, 7.9 feet high, 2.7 metres wide and - 1.7 metres long, and weighing around 700 kilogrammes, 1 545 pounds. It is being called the “Moon Sniper” for its precision. On Wednesday, India landed a craft near the Moon’s south pole, a historic triumph for the world’s most populous nation and its low cost space programme.
This article is highly relevant to the defense industry, as it discusses the potential of Japans space programme to match India’s success in landing a craft on the Moon. The launch of Japans “Moon Sniper” mission is a significant event in the space and defense industry, as it is the first mission of its kind and could have wide-reaching implications for future space exploration. Over the past 25 years, there have been significant advancements in space and defense technology, particularly in terms of satellite launches, space missions, and other technological developments. This article is indicative of the increasing competition in the space and defense industry as countries strive to outdo each other in terms of technology and exploration.
Investigative
Question:
- 1. What are the primary objectives of Japan’s “Moon Sniper” mission?
- 2. What challenges have Japan’s space programme faced in the past and how do they compare to India’s success?
- 3.
What technological advances are needed for successful space exploration? 4. What other countries have attempted similar space missions?
5. How will Japan’s “Moon Sniper” mission impact the space and defense industry in the future?
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