Japan aspires to become today (around 4:20 p.m. Spanish time) the fifth country that has managed to successfully land on the Moon with one of its devices, after the Soviet Union, the United States, China and India. Although the position in the race does not seem bright, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) dresses its challenge with capabilities that make its mission a pioneer. The probe SLIM (acronym in English for intelligent lander to investigate the Moon), also known as “lunar sniper”, wants to land with much greater precision technology than usual. The module Eaglewith which Armstrong and Aldrin became the first humans to reach the Moon, was precise enough to land on an ellipse 20 kilometers long and 5 kilometers wide. SLIM It intends to land at a maximum distance of 100 meters from the point chosen to do so, in the Shioli crater.
Although landing on the Moon has been going on for more than half a century, it is still not a routine operation and the success rate is still around 50%. JAXA's goal is to prove that its technology allows it to not only land safely on an extraterrestrial world, but to do so exactly where each mission requires it. “Currently, there has been an increase in knowledge of astronomical objects and the details that should be studied have become more specific, so high-precision landings near the study target have become a necessity,” explains the agency. Japanese.
If successful, its precision tools, which include cameras adapted with image recognition algorithms to detect dangerous obstacles, could be incorporated into new missions to explore the Moon for water and other resources and improve the exploration of other planets and satellites of the Moon. Solar system.
In addition to testing its precise landing system, SLIM It has two small explorer robots on board, LEV-1 and LEV-2 (lunar excursion vehicles). The first, the size of a microwave and weighing two kilos, can be moved by jumping. It has a camera to take images, a thermometer, a radiation and tilt meter, and can communicate with Earth. The LEV-2is a sphere slightly larger than a tennis ball and weighs 250 grams, and can be split in two to reveal two chambers.
Japan has already managed to land with two missions, Hayabusa 1 and 2, on very distant asteroids, but the Moon poses different challenges, given its greater gravitational attraction. In statements to the Reuters agency, Kazuto Saiki, a professor at Ritsumeikan University, who has developed the infrared camera of SLIM, states that his country “cannot beat the United States, China or India in terms of resources” dedicated to a lunar mission. For this reason, he considers it important to focus on developing technologies that may be interesting for other countries to incorporate into their projects. With this approach, he wants to play a role as a partner alongside other countries. It is scheduled to launch a joint robotic mission with India in 2025 and in the coming years it plans to send a Japanese to the Moon in collaboration with NASA's Artemis program.
You can follow SUBJECT in Facebook, x and instagramor sign up here to receive our weekly newsletter.
#Direct #Japan #lands #Moon #39SLIM39 #spacecraft #sniper