TOKYO — Japan will attempt a precision landing on Friday, aiming to become the fifth country to land a spacecraft on the moon. This would be a boost for a space program that has been hit by a wave of setbacks and overshadowed by rival China.
was namedmoon sniper'', the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)'s spacecraft is attempting to land within 100 meters (328 feet) of its target, but JAXA says the technology is unprecedented and that it will It is said to be essential in the search for human habitability.
Japan is increasingly seeking to play a larger role in space, partnering with Washington to counter China's military and technological might.Japan boast In collaboration with many private space startup companies, astronaut To the moon as part of NASA's Artemis program.
However, JAXA has faced multiple setbacks, including launch failure In March, a new flagship rocket, the H3, was announced, aimed at matching cost competitiveness with private rocket providers like SpaceX.
JAXA's Smart Lander for Lunar Exploration (SLIM) spacecraft will begin its 20-minute touchdown phase on a one-way mission at midnight Saturday (15:00 GMT Friday), covering an area about two kinetic tracks on the lunar surface. Attempt to land at the target location. The slope of a crater just south of the moon's equator.
“No other country has achieved this. If Japan can prove that it has this technology, it will provide a huge advantage for future international missions like Artemis,” said Shinichiro Sakai, JAXA's SLIM project manager. said.
Chandrayaan 3 in India in August Had made The historic touchdown to the Moon's South Pole was a major technological feat considering the rugged terrain and underlines India's rise as a nation. Major players In space.
JAXA emphasizes that its high-precision technology will be a powerful tool in future exploration of the hilly lunar poles, which are considered a potential source of oxygen, fuel and water. Japan is also planning an unmanned lunar polar exploration jointly with India in 2025.
Professor Kazuto Saiki of Ritsumeikan University, who developed the SLIM near-infrared camera that analyzes lunar rocks after landing, says, “Japan cannot compete with the United States, China, and India in terms of resources when it comes to developing lunar surface projects.'' .
“We should focus on building popular technologies such as pinpoint landings and near-infrared cameras that foreign exploration projects aim to adopt.”
JAXA has twice landed on small asteroids, but landing on the moon is much more difficult due to gravity, as seen in many recent failures.
Last year, a Japanese probe to start ispace crashes into the moon RussiaThe Luna 25 followed suit. A lander from American startup Astrobotic suffered a fuel leak last week. Force Giving up a touchdown attempt.
“Mistakes happen, but Japan is a very experienced space power and has been conducting very complex space operations for many years,” said Bredin Bowen, an associate professor at the University of Leicester who specializes in space policy. To tell.
“Japan may not be as big as the old United States or the Soviet Union or today's China, but it has always been there in terms of capability and niche advanced technology.''
SLIM's high-precision landing “won't be a game changer,” but its demonstration and the construction of lightweight spacecraft that Japan has been pursuing could reduce the cost of each mission and bring moonshots to space agencies around the world. Bowen added that there is.
JAXA says it will take up to a month to verify whether SLIM achieved its high-precision goals after touchdown.
Upon landing, SLIM will also deploy two mini-probes, a hopping vehicle the size of a microwave oven and a wheeled rover the size of a baseball, to take photos of the spacecraft. The robot was jointly developed by technology giant Sony Group, toy maker Takara Tomy, and several Japanese universities.
Source: www.nbcnews.com
