Japan is all set to attempt its historic touchdown on the lunar surface this weekend with its ‘Moon Sniper’ spacecraft. Moon Sniper is one of the highly anticipated feet for Japan after its two previous failed lunar missions.
Japan aims to become the fifth nation to achieve the big feet needed to make a soft landing on the rocky surface. The nations that have achieved a soft landing are the United States, the Soviet Union, China, and India.
Japan’s Smart Lander for Investigating the Moon (SLIM) was carefully designed to accomplish the soft landing. Developed by JAXA, SLIM is equipped with a rolling robot.
On Saturday, it will start at midnight Japan time (1500 GMT, Friday) and should touch down in around 20 minutes if everything goes well. It is targeting a smaller area of 100 metres, which is considered a much smaller than usual landing zone. The landing site is anticipated to be a crater where the mantle, the innermost layer of the moon’s crust, is accessible from the surface. JAXA has already accomplished a precise landing on an asteroid; however, the Moon presents a more difficult task due to its higher gravity.
