Japan is likely to become the third nation this century and the fifth overall to successfully land a spacecraft on the moon when it attempts its historic landing of its robotic "Moon Sniper" explorer on the moon. The SLIM lander will aim for a landing location that is only 100 meters (328 feet) across, as opposed to previous lunar missions that were able to target and reach particular zones that extended several kilometers. The "smart eyes" of the lander, an image-matching navigation system, will take quick pictures of the lunar surface as it approaches and will adapt on its own as it descends to make a more accurate landing.
The Sea of Nectar is a lunar plain formed by ancient volcanic activity that is located just south of the Sea of Tranquility, the location of Apollo 11's 1969 landing. The Moon Sniper is aiming for a landing spot close to the small Shioli crater within this plain. The lander will briefly examine rocks at the landing location in the event that it comes down safely, as these rocks may hold clues about the moon's formation.
The moon gets craters and stony debris all over its surface from meteorites and other objects striking it. Scientists are fascinated by these rocks because studying them is akin to looking inside the moon. The makeup of the rocks and their minerals may provide additional insight into the moon's formation. Most missions normally steer clear of the dangerous procedure of landing close to the sloping, rock-strewn areas surrounding craters, but JAXA thinks its lander has the technology to land safely on rough terrain.
Over the past year, numerous space agencies and nations have tried moon landing missions, resulting in both a historic first and failures. With the arrival of its Chandrayaan-3 mission close to the lunar south pole in August, India became the fourth nation (after the US, the former USSR, and China) to carry out a controlled landing on the moon.
A landing attempt was made in April, but the Japanese corporation Ispace's Hakuto-R lunar lander crashed into the moon after falling 3 miles (4.8 kilometers). In August, during Russia's first mission to return to the moon since the fall of the Soviet Union, the Luna-25 also made a crash landing. The Peregrine spacecraft, built by Astrobotic Technologies, was the first American lunar lander to launch in fifty years. However, it was destroyed in flames on Thursday due to a major fuel leak that rendered a moon landing safe.
