Japan’s Moon Sniper Lander Enters Lunar Orbit, Prepares for Historic Touchdown
Japan’s space agency, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), has achieved a major milestone as their Moon Sniper lander successfully entered lunar orbit on Christmas Day. This brings Japan one step closer to their goal of landing a robotic explorer on the moon’s surface for the first time.
The lander, also known as the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM), is currently completing one loop of the moon approximately every 6.4 hours. Over the next few weeks, the vehicle will gradually tighten its orbit as it prepares for its historic touchdown attempt, slated for mid-January.
If successful, Japan will become only the fifth country to accomplish this feat, and only the third country to do so in the 21st century. The only other nations to have safely landed a vehicle on the moon in this century are China and India, marking the beginning of a new race for the lunar surface.
The SLIM lightweight lander is aiming for an extremely precise “pinpoint” landing, with the goal of gathering data about lunar rocks that could help scientists better understand the moon’s formation. The targeted landing zone stretches only about 328 feet (100 meters), earning the mission the nickname “Moon Sniper.”
The lunar touchdown attempt is scheduled for 10:20 a.m. ET on January 19, or 12:20 a.m. January 20 Japan Standard Time. If successful, the lander will explore a site near a small impact crater called Shioli, near the Apollo 11 landing site where NASA astronauts first touched down in 1969.
Japan’s Moon Sniper spacecraft is part of a series of lunar landing missions planned in the coming year. Following this mission, the United States aims to launch as many as three robotic vehicles to the moon’s surface, with NASA intending to send astronauts into orbit around the moon in late 2024. If successful, the Artemis II mission would pave the way for another mission that could land humans on the moon later this decade, marking the first time astronauts have returned to the lunar surface since the 1970s.
This significant achievement by JAXA represents a new era of lunar exploration and is a testament to the continued interest and investment in space exploration by nations around the world.