Japan could join the United States, the former Soviet Union, China and India on the short list of countries that have succeeded in landing on the Moon
A JAXA (Japanese Space Agency) must confirm in a press conference whether the Japan made a controlled landing on the surface of the moon this Friday (19th).
The space agency’s broadcast showed a panel indicating the spacecraft’s descent. However, technicians are still verifying whether the country managed to make a soft landing on the natural satellite.
If the mission was successful, the nation would join the WEthe old Soviet Union, China AND India in the selected list of countries that have already managed to achieve a moon landing — technical term for a successful landing on the Moon.
JAXA has brought an unmanned module called SUBTLE (Intelligent Landing Module to Investigate the Moon), launched on September 6 aboard the Japanese rocket H-2A.
SLIM entered orbit around the Moon in December and aimed to land on the edge of the small crater. Shioli.
Watch the JAXA broadcast
What will Japan do there?
The main objective of the JAXA mission is to investigate the origins of the Moon through the analysis of its rocky composition. One of the focuses is the study of the lunar permafrost, a frozen area that can provide crucial information on water resources on the Earth’s natural satellite.
If the landing went as expected, the SLIM module will launch two probes equipped with cameras, which will photograph the landing site. These images will be essential for teams on shore to assess the condition of the ship.
Furthermore, the probes will have an independent communication system, which will allow information to be sent directly to Earth.
This data collected by SLIM will play an important role in the NASA-led Artemis project, which is expected to return astronauts to the Moon and establish a sustainable human presence on the satellite.
If the mission is successful, the developed technology could make future robotic probe missions more efficient and economical, ensuring precision landings at designated locations.
*Text being updated
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Source: Terra
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