A historic moon landing has been planned by Japan, which is preparing to take a significant step into space by landing on the Moon with the Slim probe
Il Japan is about to make a historic moon landing thanks to probe Slim. The lander, nicknamed “Moon sniper” for its extraordinary landing precision, it is operated by the Jaxa, the Japanese space agency. The event is scheduled for today, Friday 19 January at 4:00 pm (Italian time). If the mission is successful, Japan will become the fifth country in the world to land a moon landing, following the United States, Russia, China and India. The Slim probe, which reached lunar orbit on December 25, 2023, after being launched on September 6 of the same year. It represents a significant investment 18 billion yen. Its landing technology is considered innovative and aims to touch the lunar soil with unprecedented precision. Using technologies similar to facial recognition, the lander will be able to identify lunar craters and determine its location in real time. All this will be possible using data recorded by Kaguya orbital mission.
Japan will land on the Moon: evolution of space technologies
The touchdown phase is expected to last 20 minutes. Aim to land Slim within 100 meters of its target, on a crater slope just south of the lunar equator. This precision far surpasses that of previous missions, such as the landing of theApollo 11. It represents an important step inevolution of space technologies. Japan is eager to play a more significant role in space. For this reason, it has collaborated with the United States to respond to China’s growing power.
There are numerous startups in the private space sector through which the country aims to send an astronaut to the Moon. A mission that is part of the NASA’s Artemis program. Furthermore, he also intends to participate in international missions. Despite the successes, Jaxa has faced several challenges, including the launch failure of the H3 rocket and the Hakuto-R spacecraft crash in 2023. However, India’s recent success with the Chandrayaan-3 landing has highlighted the growing importance of Asian nations in space.
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