One Small Landing, One Giant Leap For Japan

Japan, the Land of the Rising Sun, has once again risen to the forefront of innovation with the successful landing of its "Moon Sniper" mission. Japan has become the fifth country to put a spacecraft on the lunar surface.

SLIM, or the "Smart Lander for Investigating Moon," made a soft landing, but whether it managed to achieve precise landing isn't known yet. The probe, dubbed "moon sniper," is designed to land within 100 meters of its target. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) says that it will take up to a month to verify if SLIM has achieved the precision goals.

WHAT'S SPECIAL ABOUT JAPAN'S PRECISION LANDING?

Usually, lunar landers focus on successful landings in areas spanning several kilometers, but JAXA aimed for the bull's eye. It zoomed in on a very narrow strip of lunar surface. Equipped with a high-resolution camera, the probe matched live images with existing satellite pictures to achieve a precise landing. The mission would help future moon missions in the search for water and other crucial minerals to sustain a human settlement.

WHY THE MOON, SO CLOSE, REMAINS SO FAR?

There is a new space race. Nations around the world are heading for our planet's only natural satellite. Covering the 384,400 km journey from Earth to the Moon isn't difficult, but achieving a soft landing is an arduous task. On Thursday, the first U.S. spacecraft in decades failed to land on the moon. The Peregrine lander, under a contract with NASA, crashed into the South Pacific Ocean after suffering a propellant leakage. This forced NASA to postpone its plans for crewed lunar missions under its Artemis program. On August 19, 2023, Russia's first moon mission in 47 years ended in failure with the crash of its Luna-25 spacecraft.

WHY A SOFT LANDING ON THE MOON IS SO DIFFICULT?

Despite technological advances, a journey into deep space remains a challenging task. While the journey to the moon is relatively easy, landing requires delicate maneuvers. The moon has almost no atmosphere, so parachutes won't work, and it is up to the onboard computers to make the final adjustments before landing. Also, the moon has reduced gravity and a dusty surface littered with craters, which further complicates a soft landing.

THE NEW MOON RACE

While the Americans and the Russians were among the first nations to stamp their authority by landing on the moon in the late 1960s, it's the Asian nations who are leading in lunar exploration. After China and India, Japan has demonstrated technological prowess. In 2023, ISRO's Chandrayaan-3 landed on the moon, propelling India as a leading space power. However, more than jubilation and national pride, each mission adds to the collective knowledge of humanity and helps for every other future mission.

FUTURE MOON MISSIONS

The moon is set to witness a lot of activities in the near future. Next month, U.S. startup Intuitive Machines is sending another mission to the moon. China is also eyeing the far side of the moon; it is sending a probe in June to retrieve lunar samples. India is also preparing for a similar mission; Chandrayaan-4 is a planned lunar sample-return mission. NASA is all set for a human mission in 2026.