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The Ghost of Yotei: Vengeful Outsiders in Feudal Japan | Gaming

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Atsu is not a Samurai. The protagonist of Ghost of Yōtei is a wandering sellsword from a humble background. Her absence of gender and status means that after her family’s murder, she has no secure position in 17th-century Japanese society and no options to seek revenge on the six Yotei, the man responsible for her loss. As Nate Fox, the game’s co-director, puts it, “Atsu is not the one who walks into a room; people are respectful.”

Yotei follows the legacy of Sucker Punch Productions’ 2020 expansive open-world game, Ghost of Tsushima, which narrates the tale of Jin Sakai, a samurai who embodies honor while defending his homeland. Jin is unable to fend off the Mongol invasion as a noble warrior, but as a “ghost,” he employs terrifying legendary tactics to gain the upper hand. While Tsushima’s ghost portrays someone maneuvering through varying types of power dynamics, Yōtei showcases Atsu harnessing the singular power achievable with both hands.




The pinnacle of achievement… Yotei’s ghost. Photo: Sony Interactive Entertainment

ATSU adopts the mantle of Onryō, a spirit of vengeance from Japanese folklore. By embracing this myth, she becomes a figure of terror to her adversaries. The gameplay is akin to Tsushima, yet in Yotei’s Ghost, players ride horses and navigate through a beautifully crafted open-world Japan, striking foes with the precise strokes of a katana.

“She leads a life distinctly different from Jin’s, and we aim to highlight that through interactivity,” Fox explains. This involves subtracting the contemplative moments present in Tsushima, where Jin takes time to meditate and transforms his struggles into haiku. “Jin was an intellectual samurai, pausing to appreciate the beauty of nature and weave it into his existence. Atsu is not that person.” These reflective moments soften the harsher aspects of Tsushima, traits that Fox and his team consciously avoided in Yotei’s vibrant landscape. Atsu is focused on collecting trophies while pursuing warriors across Hokkaido.

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Sucker Punch highlights the contrasts between the main characters through a mobile campsite, a subtle advancement in the open-world genre. “We enjoy creating features that enhance the tone,” remarks Jason Connell, another game director at Yōtei. “Camping is a feature you can expect in a world like this,” Fox adds, “Atsu is a sellsword who has found a place to rest.”


As the game’s world expanded and the number of questlines and upgrade options grew, a management barrier emerged between players and the universe they were exploring. Instead of venturing on foot, fast travel is utilized between mapped markers. “That creates a disconnect,” asserts Connell. One moment you could be battling a mercenary in an exotic forest. Atsu’s camp aims to mend this discrepancy and reinforce player immersion. Quest givers, shopkeepers, and vital characters offer ways to engage and progress in the narrative without interrupting the story’s flow. “That’s beneficial,” Connell states.

In this fashion, Yōtei is poised to be both an evolution and a counterpart to Tsushima. Three hundred years after the original tale, on the opposite side of Japan, players will inhabit a world viewed through the sandals of characters from the lower echelons of society, creating a familiar yet intriguingly transformed landscape.

Ghost of Yōtei will be available on PlayStation 5 on October 2nd

Source: www.theguardian.com

Review: Assassin’s Creed Shadows – A Stunning Return to Feudal Japan

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I I’ve played various Assassin’s Creed games over time, but I never truly adored them. Ubisoft’s historical fiction is almost exceptional. Many players argue that the series reached its peak in the late 2000s, particularly with the Italian Renaissance trilogy starting with Assassin’s Creed 2, featuring the charismatic hero Ezio Auditore. Since then, the franchise has become bloated, offering endless hours of repetitive open-world exploration and assassination across ancient Greece, Egypt, and even Viking Britain. The last game I delved into seriously was Odyssey, set in Ancient Greece. The settings were stunning, the gameplay somewhat engaging, and the sheer scale was utterly overwhelming.

Assassin’s Creed games serve as an incredible dive into historical fiction, effectively recreating lost periods of history for players to roam through, almost like a form of time travel. Personally, I enjoy them for the virtual tourism they offer, yet I’ve often found that a significant portion of the gameplay, roughly 80%, consists of loosely tying together moments of exploration with stealthy assassination missions.

Recently, the latest installment in the series, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, was released after multiple delays. Surprisingly, I found it to be more engaging and entertaining than many of its predecessors in years. This time, the game is set in 16th century Japan amidst the samurai and ninja conflict involving Warlord Oda Nobunaga, presenting a visually captivating and historically intriguing narrative. The two main characters in Shadows find themselves at the heart of this transformative period in Japan’s history, with each offering unique playstyles and stories that add depth to the overall experience.

The setting in Shadows is truly remarkable. Playing on the PS5 Pro, I can confidently say that this is the most visually stunning game I’ve ever encountered. The attention to detail in depicting the Japanese landscape, architecture, and natural beauty of the mountains is exceptional. The changing seasons add a dynamic element to the world, constantly offering new perspectives on the surroundings. It’s evident that a tremendous amount of effort went into creating this immersive environment, with every minute detail meticulously crafted.

The shadow of the Assassin’s Creed. Photo: Ubisoft

One notable aspect is the inclusion of multilingual scripts, allowing players to experience the game with English voiceovers or Japanese and Portuguese subtitles, adding to the authenticity of the historical setting. Despite my limited knowledge of Japanese history and language, playing in this mode proved to be surprisingly immersive and engaging, with each conversation feeling like a delicate interplay of words and intentions. The level of nuance in character interactions was impressive, offering players the chance to influence the outcomes through their choices.

The approach in Shadows to historical accuracy is more grounded and serious compared to previous entries in the series. The characters and events draw from actual historical references, steering clear of exaggerated side quests or comedic elements in dialogues. The game strikes a balance between authenticity and entertainment, capturing the essence of the samurai and shinobi in a way that feels believable and engaging.

Source: www.theguardian.com

Assassin’s Creed: Shadows – Exploring Feudal Japan in a Historical Gaming Experience

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jApan, 1581: Iga Province is burning around you. You will be monitored, injured, helpless
Oda Nobunaga – the warlord responsible for many civil wars and the ultimate unification of the country – a smirk from the nearby hill. You draw your katana and glow in the flickering light of flames. This is Assassin’s Creed: Shadows – some exciting ninja games, some history lessons. It’s a strange combination, but it brings together a vast historical fiction adventure filled with discoveries and deceptions.

The turbulent times, when Japan was unified in the late 1500s and seeing the collapse of Nobunaga, are ideal environments that will help you play as despicable ninja and brave samurai. The series’ science fiction framing device means that you, the player, are cornering the mysterious craft by jumping into your ancestor’s memory and defeating a group of terrifying masked samurai one at a time. But most games leave you alone to enjoy feudal Japan.

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During this difficult period there is a constant sense of danger, and each conversation is like a careful step at the edge of the knife. The stories are of course complete fiction, but they weave real historical events and characters, and the Ubisoft developers clearly have become a huge pain to make them feel authentic, authentic, both the scenery and the people who inhabit them. If you automatically remove your shoes when you enter the building, it looks like you’ve seen the famous temple, not as a tourist destination today.

The world is truly luxurious, with several states to explore in all seasons and weather, as well as cities of the era, including Kyoto and Osaka. The giant temples rise above a busy town filled with food stalls and workshops, while mossy shrines are scattered along the winding paths of the countryside. Japan of all colours will see Japan in all colours, from the mild pinks of cherry blossoms in spring to the fiery colours of leaves covering the hills in autumn to the pitch black darkness of winter nights. It’s easy to be distracted by views along the way when surrounded by ancient Red Torigates or when you notice random puppet performances on the streets. I feel that Ubisoft’s Japan is alive. Also, sometimes it feels completely overwhelming.

It’s as fun as riding horses around the country and scouting new villages and historic places, so it’s easy to feel lost because there are so many. There are many missions and side quests that will guide you around the map, but those tasks have many repetitions. To kill a high-level samurai, you need some help. Someone who can help you want the bounty, it includes finding
Another Someone I want you to kill me
different Samurai, etc. After a long time in the game, this starts to grate.




Important Features: You can keep all Japanese cats (and dogs) if you wish. Photo: Ubisoft

The double hero helps to reduce the feeling of you being stuck in a loop repeatedly. For the first 10-15 hours of the game, she steps into sandals on Fujiwarajima Island, a young woman seeking revenge after the house is destroyed, reconstructing her life and helping her set up a network of spies and rebels from a secret mountain base. Then there is Yasuke, a principled black samurai based on a real historical figure of the same name. They appear briefly in the introduction to the game, disappearing until Naoe approaches Nobunaga.

Naoe is bright on her feet, allowing easy expansion of walls and temples, blending into the shadows to sneak around her enemies. Her stealth approach makes for fun, mean moments like stabbing a screen door on a paper for a surprising attack. But that tipped approach costs her when she faces a brawl. The enemy strikes attack her hard, and she is soon overwhelmed in the battle. Yasuke, meanwhile, cruelly strong, runs straight through those screen doors, shrugging on sword strikes, shrugging like the stimulant they tickle. He can still assassinate his enemies like Naoe Can, but he does it from the front, not from the shadows. In a series that traditionally prioritized stealth, it is extremely liberated when you break through the castle gates and everyone faces it head-on. Both characters are viable options for playing most of the game and can be freely exchanged between them (almost) at their own pace.




Few other games have done such a good job in this setting… Assassin Creed: Shadow. Photo: Ubisoft

Unfortunately, no matter who plays, you have to put up with some great things in the fight. Dodge and Parry find themselves surprised in one-on-one scraps, but you often find yourself surrounded as more opponents are warned of your presence. It feels like everything is when you take your time sneaking up around the castle roof and picking enemies, bouncing backwards into the shadows before scopeping your next kill. But the moment you get caught up in a battle on the ground, it starts to feel nasty and frustrating.


I found myself getting frustrated with going back and forth between the quest givers, but I can’t stop thinking about the shadows. Emotionally resonating moments, such as excellent performances and Naoe’s painful recovery after losing everything she cherishes, mean that she feels all her sadness and anger along with the game’s hero. Events are often troubling as the power struggles between the Lord often cost locals a lot and see the unwelcome impact of your actions on allies.

Few games have done such a good job in this environment as they run through lush bamboo forests before creeping up to shrink the walls of ancient castles and steal treasures. These moments of glow are more than making up for that weak point.

Source: www.theguardian.com

Embracing the Challenge: Bringing Shadows of Assassin’s Creed and Feudal Japan to Life in Gaming

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mFour years after its announcement, and after two last minute delays, the latest title from Ubisoft’s historic fiction series Assassin’s Creed will finally be released on Thursday. Set in Japan in 1579, the period of intense civil war ruled by feudal Oda Bunaga follows two characters overcoming bloody chaos. A female ninja named Fujiwarajima Island and an African slave Yasusuke became samurai. According to Ubisoft, Japan is the series’ most requested setting for many years.

“I’m on the ride [this] For the 16 years of the franchise, every time we start a new game, Japan comes out and asks if this is the time.” says executive producer Marc-Alexis Coté. “We have never pushed beyond the conceptual stage with Japan.”

The game comes at a critical time for Ubisoft after the disappointing performance of the expensive closure of last year’s titles Star Wars Outlaw, Skull and Bones, Prince of Persia: Lost Crown and live service shooter Xdefiant. There was also a stir against the black and female protagonists of the game. Criticize them as “awakening” And historically, it is inaccurate despite the fact that female warriors fought throughout the feudal era and that Yasuke, the black samurai of the game, is a historical figure.

That’s something the team wants to deal with. “In-house historians were some of the first to staff the production team,” says creative director Jonathan Dumont. “We have a continuous supply of huge data banks. As we gain a sense of the times, research efforts must either narrow down the details or understand more detailed cultural points, seeking the help of experts around the world, including Japan.”

The game features advances in landscape lighting. Photo: Ubisoft

There was also a field trip to key locations in the Kyoto and Osaka game, revealing elements the team hadn’t thought up. Coté recalls a local colleague traveling to Japan to showcase some technical breakthroughs the development team had made in light of the landscape. But they all shook their heads and said it wasn’t working. “I was like, ‘Why?!'” he says. “And they just replied: ‘That’s not the way light falls on the mountains in Japan.’ So, when our art director was there, I asked him to go and see the mountains in particular. He went and took a reference photo, but now he captured it.”

The team also had to render socks for individual characters. Because they are always painted with their footwear removed when they enter the building. “The expectations were much higher. That was a challenge.”

Like all previous Assassin’s Creed titles, Shadows uses authentic locations and historical figures to take the game’s time hopping story by storm. Takada, Fukuyama and Hill Castles are all replicated along with villages, harbors and countryside landscapes in Central Japan. However, as always, this is a game where you secretly defeat enemies first and foremost, first and foremost, secretly defeat them. In the demo played just before its release, the main character attacks Himeji Castle. Choose to play as Nae and use smoke bombs and quiet attacks to scalp shadows to escape detection. Ubisoft has put a huge effort into acquiring the nature of the nearby Tayama period and the IGA peasant class (possibly origins of modern ninja archetypes), but equally important is how good it feels to plunge out the roof and decapitate the enemy.

“Incredibly bloody battle.” Photo: Ubisoft

In many ways, the game appears to be portrayed from modern cultural portrayals, just like history as it is from the era and its warriors. “Japanese storytelling has a very impact on the development of the game and all Western art in general,” says Dumont. “The tale of Kurosaki’s Kagemsha, 13 Assassins, Zatachichi, Zekigahara, and Genji or Musashi on Yoshikawa Island, give a more obvious name [all] It helped shape the vision of the game. Even Studio Ghibli films like My Neighbor Totoro helped me understand the countryside and vegetation.”

It’s certainly an interesting time for Shadow to release. With multiple famous failures in recent live service games, players are eager to see an era of big single player adventures, and Obsidian’s recent RPGs have been reported. Meanwhile, the huge success of FX/Hulu’s Shōgun series has brought feudal Japan back to the cultural spotlight. And the story of how that standout British navigator John Blackthorne becomes high-class is somewhat of a reflection of that of Yasuke.

The game looks beautiful with complex environments, dramatic weather systems and incredibly bloody combat. Ubisoft survived a difficult time. Much depends on its most precious possessions.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows will be released on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox on March 20th. Keith Stuart attended a press conference in Kyoto along with other journalists. Accommodation and travel expenses were met by Ubisoft

Source: www.theguardian.com

A recently discovered troodontid dinosaur species found in Japan

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Paleontologists have announced the discovery of a new genus and species of troodontid theropod dinosaur based on fossils discovered in Japan.

Reconstructing your life Hypnovenator Pinus variegatusImage provided by: Masato Hattori.

Hypnovenator Pinus variegatus They roamed the Earth during the Early Cretaceous Period, between 112 million and 106 million years ago.

The new dinosaur TroodontidaeA group of bird-like theropods including species ranging in size from kiwi to rhea.

“The Troodontidae are a family of small, slender theropod dinosaurs,” Dr. Katsuhiro KubotaPaleontologists and colleagues from the University of Hyogo, the Museum of Nature and Human Sciences, and the Hokkaido University Museum.

“The phylogenetic position of Troodontidae has traditionally been considered to be a clade together with Dromaeosauridae that forms the Deinonychosauridae, but Troodontidae has also been considered as a sister clade to Avialidae.”

“Anchiornis from the Late Jurassic of China has questionable phylogeny and is classified as either a troodontid or aves.”

“These lively discussions will greatly improve our understanding of the phylogeny and osteology of non-avian theropods, with major implications for our understanding of early bird evolution.”

“Since the discovery of the first troodontids Troodon Troodontid fossils have been found in the Late Cretaceous of Canada, and in the Middle Jurassic and Late Cretaceous of Asia, Europe, and North America.

“However, articulated troodontid specimens are extremely rare.”

Articulated skull Hypnovenator Pinus variegatus It was discovered in deposits in the lower Mt. Oyama layer in Tanba Sasayama City, Hyogo Prefecture.

“In September 2010, during construction work on a park in Nishikosa, Tanba Sasayama City, rocks in the Lower Oyama Formation were crushed and a partial theropod skeleton, including forelimbs and knees, was discovered,” the paleontologists explained.

“The discovery was made by Kaoru Matsubara and Ryuji Oe of the amateur group 'Sasayama Group Research Association.'”

“In July 2011, an articulated theropod heel was discovered at the same site during an excavation carried out by the Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Nature and Human Sciences.”

These specimens are the only troodontid dinosaurs identified in Japan.

“Our position on phylogenetic analysis is Hypnovenator Pinus variegatus It is one of the oldest and most basal troodontids. Gobivenator mongoliensis” the researchers said.

“This discovery suggests that small maniraptorid dinosaurs in sleeping positions were common in fluvial systems as well as volcanic, aeolian and alluvial environments.”

“The geometric morphometric analysis of the claw phalanges shows that claw phalanges I and III are Hypnovenator Pinus variegatus They show considerable morphological variation but are functionally similar, reflecting a shift in manual action within troodontids that differs from that seen in non-troodontid troodontids.”

“Hypnovenator Pinus variegatus “The foot also displays a mosaic of running-related features,” the researchers added.

“This study reveals that asymmetric arc metatarsals appeared by the Albian, and morphological changes such as a shorter digit IV than digit III, a non-clawed phalange of digit III with a roller joint, and a weak gingival joint of digit IV occurred in the Early Late Cretaceous.”

This discovery paper In the journal Scientific Reports.

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Kenichi Kubota others2024. An Early Cretaceous troodontid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Oyamashita Formation in Japan sheds light on the early evolution of Troodontidae. Scientific Reports 14, 16392; doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-66815-2

Source: www.sci.news

Newly discovered fossil of hybodontiform shark found in Japan

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Japanese paleontologists have described a new species of shark-like cartilaginous fish based on fossil teeth found in the Momonoki Formation of the Late Triassic Period.

Fossilized teeth Parvodus ominechonensisScale bar – 0.5 mm. Image courtesy of Breeden III others., doi: 10.1080/02724634.2024.2322749.

Named Parvodus ominechonensis The newly identified shark species lived during the Late Triassic period, between 237 million and 227 million years ago.

it is Parvodas Small extinct genus Hybodontiform Shark It has been known since the Mesozoic era.

“Hybodontiforme is an extinct lineage of sharks that is generally considered to be the sister lineage of Neoselachia (i.e. rays, rays, and modern sharks) within the chondrichthyes Euselaciidae,” he said. Dr. Benjamin T. Breedon III Researchers from the National Museum of Nature and Science in Tsukuba and his colleagues.

“The oldest clearly hybodontiform fossils are from the Mississippian, but the discovery of isolated teeth has pushed the oldest record of this group back to the Late Devonian.”

“Hybodontiform fossils have been found primarily in coastal and lagoonal deposits throughout the Late Palaeozoic, suggesting a shallow-marine palaeoecology of the clade's ancestors.”

“However, some hybodontiforms appear to have become euryhaline early in the evolution of their lineage, and since the Mississippian, hybodontiforms have repeatedly invaded freshwater environments.”

“Hybodontis were the most abundant group of sharks among marine and non-marine vertebrate groups throughout the Early Mesozoic, but their diversity declined after the Early Jurassic until their extinction at or near the end of the Cretaceous.”

Ecological reconstruction of the hybodontiform shark Strophodus rebeccae Image credit: Jorge Blanco / CC BY 4.0.

Some isolated teeth Parvodus ominechonensis It was collected from the non-marine peach tree layer in Ominecho (romanized as Ominecho) in the western part of Mine City, Yamaguchi Prefecture.

“The diversity of Triassic hybodontids is known from Japan, among which Parvodus ominechonensis It is the only species known from non-marine sediments and the first reported occurrence of this family. Ronchididae” the paleontologist said.

According to the study: Parvodus ominechonensis Filling in gaps in the geological record Parvodas Between occurrences in Middle Triassic and Middle Jurassic strata.

“The Triassic Global Record Parvodas include Parvodus physodus From the Chinese Olenekians, Parvodas Chinese Anisian sp., and Parvodus ominechonensis The Carnian period in the Japanese Archipelago Parvodus ominechonensis and Parvodus physodus “It is also known from non-marine deposits,” the authors say.

“Since the Triassic Period, Parvodas It is known to have lived in marine and non-marine strata throughout Laurasia and South America until its extinction in the Early Cretaceous.

“this is, Parvodas They may have originated in freshwater habitats in the southern Chinese region of Pangaea after the end-Permian mass extinction, diversified throughout the Triassic in what is now East Asia, and achieved a global distribution during the late Mesozoic.”

Discovery Parvodus ominechonensis It has been reported paper In Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

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Benjamin T. Breedon III others2023. A new species of hybodontiform shark (Chondrichthyes, Elasmobranchia), a freshwater shark from the Upper Triassic Momonoki Formation of Yamaguchi Prefecture. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 43(5); doi:10.1080/02724634.2024.2322749

Source: www.sci.news

McDonald’s experiences technology issues in UK, Australia, Japan, and China

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Several countries, including the UK and Australia, are experiencing a “technical outage” at McDonald’s restaurants. The fast food chain denies any cybersecurity attack.

Affected services are reported in Australia, the UK, Japan, and China, with restaurants, drive-thrus, and online ordering experiencing issues. A global spokesperson for McDonald’s stated they are working to resolve the problem.

The spokesperson mentioned, “We understand that we experienced a technology outage that impacted our restaurant. The issue is currently being resolved. We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience. Notably, this issue is not related to any cybersecurity event.”

A spokesperson for McDonald’s UK confirmed that the power outage affecting restaurants in the UK and Ireland has been resolved. The Down Detector site in the UK reported over 600 app outages on Friday morning.

In Australia, a customer mentioned they were unable to make purchases at the drive-thru or online. McDonald’s Australia acknowledged that the issue is impacting their restaurants nationwide.


McDonald’s Japan also faced a “system failure” affecting its stores. An apology was issued on social media, stating service will be restored soon.


According to a spokesperson, many McDonald’s restaurants in Japan stopped accepting orders due to the system failure. McDonald’s in Japan operates around 3,000 stores.


In China, the hashtag “McDonald’s collapse” trended on social media. McDonald’s, with over 5,000 stores, faced challenges compared to their rival KFC with nearly double the number of outlets.

McDonald’s acknowledged and resolved the issues in various regions but encountered some customers opting for KFC instead. Other countries like Germany, New Zealand, and Sweden also reported problems.

Source: www.theguardian.com

Killer whale pod trapped in drift ice off the coast of Japan vanishes

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Killer whale trapped in ice off the coast of Japan

NHK/Screenshot

A pod of more than a dozen killer whales has gone missing after languishing in Japan's icy waters for nearly a day, trying to escape being trapped in an ice floe. It is unknown what happened to them, but they may have died.

Fishermen near Hokkaido first noticed the pods struggling in the thick mud early Tuesday morning. Images and drone video show at least 12 orcas. Several boys struggle in a small space It was trapped in heavy ice about 1 km offshore.

As of Wednesday morning, The containment area was empty.Japanese news outlet NHK said it gave hope that the animals may have escaped to the open waters of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk.

However, late Tuesday afternoon, a pod of 17 orcas was found trapped on an ice floe 2 kilometers northeast of their original location. NHK reporting.

“Orcas are not ice-adapted whales. They are not comfortable in this area.” colin galloway at the University of Manitoba, Canada. “So they are definitely experiencing the stress of confinement and are more likely to be starving.”

Cetaceans that permanently inhabit the Arctic region, such as narwhals (Monodon Monoceros) and belugas (Delphinapterus leucas), can sometimes become trapped in ice. Killer whale (killer whale) However, they usually avoid heavy ice and avoid getting trapped.

Still, black-and-white marine mammals can end up in icy waters at the wrong time.in 2016 reviewScientists found that since 1840, there have been 17 incidents in the Northern Hemisphere where a total of 100 orcas were trapped in ice. Almost half of them occurred in the Sea of ​​Okhotsk, Japan. Confinement usually ends in the killer whale's death, Galloway said.

Scientists believe that even the reported orcas “broken freedomAfter being trapped in the ice, they can die struggling through further ice drifts while trying to reach the open sea.

A 2019 study of ice-trapped killer whales suggests that: Mammals can live on body fat for up to 50 days before being trapped and starving to death.. Sightings of orcas trapped in the ice have increased in recent years, as the Arctic ice melts and curious orcas seek new territory to explore.

Global warming may indeed be playing a role, Galloway says. His team is currently investigating the environmental impact of killer whales' gradual northward migration. But it's also possible that entrapment incidents simply appear to be more common because people are reporting more incidents.

“Just because we've gotten better at detecting, observing, and recording climate warming, and we're more interested in it, it's very difficult to disentangle the relationship between climate warming.” “That's one of the predictions,” he says.

topic:

Source: www.newscientist.com

Japan prepares for precision ‘lunar sniper’ landing mission

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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

SLIM lunar lander from Japan successfully enters lunar orbit

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by
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
December 26, 2023

Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) aims to demonstrate pinpoint landing technology and obstacle detection technology to “land where you want to land.” Credit: JAXA

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency(JAXA) announced that its Smart Lander for Lunar Exploration (SLIM) has successfully entered lunar orbit at 16:51 on December 25, 2023 (Japan Standard Time, JST).

SLIM’s lunar orbit will be inserted into an elliptical lunar orbit connecting the moon’s north and south poles every 6.4 hours, and the altitude at the point closest to the moon (near orbit) will be approximately 600 km (approximately 370 miles). . , 4,000 km (about 2,500 miles) at its furthest point from the moon (Apolune). The orbit change proceeded as planned, and the spacecraft is currently in a normal state.

Lunar orbit insertion (LOI) on December 25, 2023 at 16:51 (Japan time).
Light blue line: current orbit of the moon.
Future Plans:
Green line: Circular orbit at an altitude of approximately 600km.
Yellow line: Altitude approximately 600km x 150km on an elliptical orbit.
Red line: Altitude approximately 600km x 15km on an elliptical orbit. Credit: JAXA

From now on, the Apollone point will descend until mid-January 2024, and the orbit will be adjusted to a circular orbit at an altitude of about 600 km. After that, the perigee will drop and preparations for landing will begin. On January 19th, the near-orbit point will be lowered to an altitude of 15 km (approximately 9 miles), and the descent toward the moon will begin at around midnight (Japan time) on January 20th, with a scheduled landing on the lunar surface. There is. Around 0:20 a.m. on January 20th (Japan time)

Source: scitechdaily.com