Japan Prepares for the Imminent Precision Landing Mission of the 'Moon Sniper'

Japan Aims for Lunar Precision: 'Moon Sniper' Mission Set for Friday

Japan is on the verge of achieving a significant milestone, aspiring to become the fifth country to successfully land a spacecraft on the moon. This precision landing, scheduled for Friday, holds the promise of rejuvenating a space program that has weathered a series of setbacks and has been somewhat overshadowed by its formidable counterpart, China.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) spearheads this lunar endeavor with its aptly named "moon sniper" probe. The mission's objective is nothing short of remarkable – landing within a mere 100 meters (328 feet) of the predetermined target. JAXA asserts that this technology is both unprecedented and crucial in the quest for lunar water and the potential for human habitability.

Japan's increasing interest in playing a more substantial role in space is evident, with collaborative efforts alongside its close ally, Washington, aimed at responding to the military and technological advancements spearheaded by China, particularly in space. Japan proudly boasts a burgeoning community of private-sector space startups and harbors ambitions to contribute an astronaut to the moon, aligning with NASA's Artemis program.

However, JAXA has not been immune to setbacks, experiencing a launch failure in March with its flagship rocket H3. This setback, intended to rival cost-competitive providers like SpaceX, underscored the challenges faced by the space agency.

JAXA's Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) probe is poised to embark on a one-way mission, initiating a 20-minute touchdown phase from midnight on Saturday (1500 GMT Friday). The target site, equivalent in size to two athletic tracks, sits on the slope of a crater just south of the lunar equator.

Shinichiro Sakai, JAXA's SLIM project manager, emphasizes the significance of this mission, stating, "No other nation has achieved this. Proving Japan has this technology would bring us a huge advantage in upcoming international missions like Artemis."

India's Chandrayaan-3 made history in August with a successful touchdown on the moon's south pole, a noteworthy achievement given the challenging lunar terrain, solidifying India's status as a major player in space exploration.

JAXA underscores the potential of its high-precision technology in future lunar exploration, particularly in the hilly moon poles considered as potential sources of oxygen, fuel, and water. Additionally, Japan envisions a collaborative unmanned lunar polar exploration with India scheduled for 2025.

Kazuto Saiki, a professor at Ritsumeikan University involved in developing SLIM's near-infrared camera, acknowledges Japan's resource limitations in comparison to the U.S., China, or India. Saiki advocates for a strategic focus on cultivating sought-after technologies, such as pinpoint landing and near-infrared cameras, which overseas exploration projects will likely adopt.

Despite successful landings on small asteroids, lunar landings pose a more challenging task due to the moon's gravity, evident in recent failures. Mistakes, as observed in the crash of a probe from Japanese startup ispace inc onto the moon's surface last year and the subsequent incident with Russia's Luna 25, are acknowledged. An American startup, Astrobotic, faced a fuel leak in its lander last week, compelling it to abandon a touchdown attempt.

Bleddyn Bowen, an associate professor at the University of Leicester specializing in space policy, remarks, "Mistakes happen, but Japan is a very experienced space power – it has conducted very complicated space operations for many years." While not on the scale of the United States, the Soviet Union, or China, Japan has consistently demonstrated capability and niche advanced technologies in the realm of space exploration.

While SLIM's precision landing may not be a revolutionary game-changer, the demonstration of this capability and Japan's pursuit of lightweight probe manufacturing could potentially democratize moonshot missions for space organizations worldwide by reducing mission costs, according to Bowen.

JAXA estimates that it will take up to a month to verify whether SLIM has achieved its high-precision goals after touchdown. Following landing, SLIM will deploy two mini-probes – a hopping vehicle of microwave oven dimensions and a baseball-sized wheeled rover. These robots, jointly developed by tech giant Sony Group, toymaker Tomy, and several Japanese universities, will capture images of the spacecraft.

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