Japan's 'Moon Sniper' Mission Aims to Follow India's Lunar Success

In the wake of India's monumental achievement with its lunar landing, Japan's space program is poised to regain its momentum as it prepares to launch its own lunar mission, dubbed "Moon Sniper."

The launch, originally slated for Monday, has been rescheduled for Tuesday due to adverse weather conditions, according to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). This mission is a significant step for Japan's space endeavors, which have recently been marred by a series of setbacks.

Japan's space program, although one of the world's largest, encountered a major setback in November 2022 when its first attempt to land a probe on the Moon ended in failure. More recently, a new rocket model suffered an explosion during a test flight last month.

The upcoming mission, named the "Smart Lander for Investigating Moon" (SLIM), is intended to be a turning point for Japan's lunar exploration efforts. The SLIM lander, standing at a compact 2.4 meters (7.9 feet) in height, 2.7 meters in width, and 1.7 meters in length, and weighing around 700 kilograms (1,545 pounds), has been aptly nicknamed the "Moon Sniper" for its precise landing capabilities. JAXA aims to land the lander within an unprecedented 100 meters of a predefined target on the lunar surface, a remarkable feat compared to the several-kilometer range of previous landings.

The SLIM project also boasts a unique addition: a palm-sized mini rover capable of changing shape. This innovative rover, developed in collaboration with a toy company, will allow researchers to investigate the Moon's formation by studying exposed fragments of its mantle.

"Lunar landing remains a very difficult technology," said Shinichiro Sakai, a member of the SLIM project team. He paid tribute to India's recent success and expressed determination to replicate it: "To follow suit, we will do our best in our own operations."

India's achievement is indeed a source of inspiration for Japan's lunar aspirations. Just last week, India successfully landed a craft near the Moon's south pole, marking a significant milestone for the nation's space program. Previously, only the United States, Russia, and China had managed to achieve lunar landings, none of which had targeted the lunar south pole. This achievement came after a series of challenges, including a Russian probe crash in the same region and a failed Indian attempt four years earlier.

Japan, too, has faced its share of lunar landing failures. The previous year, an attempt to land a lunar probe named Omotenashi, carried aboard NASA's Artemis 1 mission, went awry, resulting in communication loss. Additionally, in April, a Japanese startup called ispace encountered communication loss after a "hard landing" during an ambitious private lunar landing attempt.

Japan's troubles extended beyond landings, with a series of rocket failures. The next-generation H3 model suffered a failure shortly after liftoff in March, followed by the reliable solid-fuel Epsilon rocket encountering a similar issue in October of the previous year. Just last month, an improved version of the Epsilon rocket, named Epsilon S, exploded only 50 seconds after ignition.

Adding to the upcoming mission's significance, the H2-A rocket set to launch the SLIM lander and rover will also carry the X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM), developed collaboratively by JAXA, NASA, and the European Space Agency. XRISM's high-resolution X-ray spectroscopic observations of the universe's hot gas plasma wind hold the promise of unraveling the mysteries of mass and energy flows, as well as the composition and evolution of celestial objects.

Hironori Maejima, the XRISM project manager, highlighted its potential impact: "There is a theory that dark matter is preventing galaxies from expanding. The question of why dark matter does not converge, and what are the forces that spread it, is expected to be clarified by measuring plasma with XRISM."

As Japan's 'Moon Sniper' mission prepares to take flight, it carries the hopes of not only JAXA but also the nation's ambition to join the ranks of successful lunar explorers. With inspiration drawn from India's recent feat and lessons learned from past challenges, Japan's space program looks forward to a triumphant return to lunar exploration.