TOKYO (Reuters): Japan aims to become the fifth country to land a spacecraft on the lunar surface with the launch of a low-cost 'moon sniper' on Thursday (Sept 7) that will test precision landing technology designed to further Tokyo’s space goals.
The H-IIA rocket carrying a Japanese lunar lander being prepped for launch on Thursday. - AFP
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency mission is scheduled to take off from Tanegashima Space Centre in southern Japan on Thursday, according to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which oversees launches for JAXA and builds the H-IIA rocket carrying the lander. The landing is likely to be a"breathless, numbing 20 minutes of terror," Kenji Kushiki, the sub-project manager of the SLIM mission, said in a blog post on a JAXA website, adding that landing was akin to a"one-shot game that cannot be undone".
Delhi last month put its Chandrayaan-3 rover lander down near the moon's south pole in a $75 million mission. That made India the fourth country to land a spacecraft on the moon after the United States, Russia and China.
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