Japan successfully 'landed' on the moon

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)'s Smart Lander for the Moon (SLIM) made history in the country's aerospace industry by landing on the moon's surface at around 10:20 p.m. on January 19 (Vietnam time).

Thus, Japan is the third country to send a lander to the moon in the 21st century and the fifth to do so since the Soviet Union's Luna 9 mission in 1966.

20 minutes of suffocation

SLIM, nicknamed "moon shooter" because it is equipped with high-precision technology, began landing on the moon at 10:00 p.m. on January 19 (Vietnam time).

"The start of the deceleration process to land on the moon was breathtaking, going through 20 minutes of breathtaking moments," CNN quoted Kenji Kushiki, one of the project directors.

Nhật Bản 'đổ bộ' thành công lên mặt trăng- Ảnh 1. — Japan's SLIM Lander is a compact robotic ship

During its lunar landing, SLIM used image-based navigation technology, which JAXA calls “the eye of the moon.” The lander continuously took pictures of the lunar surface and quickly determined its exact location on a lunar map, automatically adjusting its course to land at the intended location.

Director Kushiki said that in the final moments of the landing attempt, the SLIM lander was continuously pulled by gravity towards the moon, forcing the engines on board to operate continuously to maintain a stable speed if it wanted to "land smoothly" as planned.

Measuring 2.4 x 1.7 x 2.7 m and weighing 200 kg, Japan's small lander is designed to make a highly precise landing on a specific location on the lunar surface. Other landing missions, including NASA's Apollo missions, also landed on the moon with high precision. However, JAXA hopes to send small robotic craft to the moon that are lightweight and low-cost.

US Moon Lander Crashes, Explodes in Pacific Ocean

Journey of Japanese landing ship

The SLIM lander was launched into space in September 2023. After leaving Earth, SLIM activated its propulsion system to make the journey to the moon. On Christmas Day, December 25, 2023, the ship successfully entered an oval orbit around the moon.

Since then, SLIM has been closing in on the lunar surface, successfully landing last night south of the so-called Sea of Tranquility in Antarctica, where Apollo 11 landed in 1969.

According to JAXA, SLIM landed at a designated location with a width of 100 meters. For comparison, the expected landing range of the private Peregrine spacecraft produced by the American company Astrobotic is an area spanning several kilometers. However, after leaving the launch pad on January 8, the Peregrine spacecraft suffered a serious accident that caused fuel loss and forced it to abandon its attempt to reach the moon. The Peregrine spacecraft fell back into the Earth's atmosphere before burning up in the Pacific Ocean on January 18.

Unlike other recent robotic missions, SLIM is focused on a site near a crater called Shioli, which is part of a region called the Nectar Sea, which scientists suspect was formed by ancient volcanic activity. Studying the rock structure in this area could help scientists learn about the moon’s origins.

After SLIM landed on rocky and rugged terrain, JAXA predicted that the success of this mission could pave the way for future missions beyond the moon, reaching planets with more difficult conditions.

Source link