The launch of the Japanese spacecraft is part of a global race to explore the moon’s surface, which includes crewed missions by NASA sometime in the next few years.
Topline
Japan launched its “moon sniper” lunar spacecraft from its southern coast on Thursday in an effort to become the fifth nation in the world to land an object on the moon, amid an ongoing global race to explore the lunar surface.Key Facts
The lunar craft officially known as Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM)—also referred to as the “moon sniper”— was launched by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s own HII-A rocket from the Tanegashima Space Center.
The SLIM spacecraft is expected to land on the moon’s surface sometime in January of February next year after taking a long but more fuel efficient path.
If successful, Japan will become only the fifth nation after the U.S., Russia, China and most recently India, to successfully carry out a soft landing on the moon.
What make’s Japan’s attempt unique is that it is trying to pull off a precision landing on the moon within only 100 meters (328 feet) of a designated target using advanced image-based navigation.
