Japan’s ‘Moon Sniper’ mission is preparing to land on the moon for the first time

During the night from Friday to Saturday, Japanese spacecraft will attempt to land on the moon with unequaled precision. An astonishing technological achievement for this 4th world economic power, which would be the 5th country in the history of space to achieve this.

The lunar landing of the Slim Module (a smart lander to probe the moon) should begin around Saturday Japan time (Friday 3 pm GMT) and last about twenty minutes, according to Japanese space agency JAXA. This small unmanned spacecraft (2.4 meters long, 1.7 meters wide and 2.7 meters high) must not only land, but also land within a radius of 100 meters from its target, a radius considered a high degree of accuracy. Hence his nickname “Moon Sniper”.

It is common for lunar vehicles to land several kilometers away from their target, which can complicate their exploration missions. And landing on the Moon is more difficult than landing on asteroids — a feat already accomplished by Jaxa — because gravity on the Moon is stronger than on smaller celestial bodies.

Emily Brunsden, director of York University’s Astrocampus, told AFP that accurately landing on the moon was a “huge challenge” for SLIM. The precision of the “Sniper” “constitutes an enormous technological advance that will make it possible to design missions aimed at answering more specific research questions”.

But achieving this feat is “exceptionally technically difficult”. “There’s usually only one chance, so even the slightest mistake can result in mission failure,” she warns. SLIM must land in a small crater less than 300 meters in diameter called Shioli, from where the machine must be able to analyze the ground for rocks believed to come from the Moon’s mantle, the interior structure of Earth’s natural satellite, which is still there. Very poorly known.

20 minutes with AFP