Science - Technology

Japan launches rocket carrying lunar lander

According to VNA • 07/09/2023 - 12:42

On the morning of September 7, Japan successfully launched the H2-A rocket carrying the Smart Lander for Lunar Exploration (SLIM) and the X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM) satellite into space.

The launch took place at 8:42 a.m. (local time) on September 7 at the Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan and was watched online by about 35,000 people.

Chú thích ảnh — The H2-A rocket carrying the Smart Lander for Lunar Exploration (SLIM) was launched from the Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan on September 7, 2023.

According to plan, SLIM - developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) - will enter orbit around the Moon about 3 to 4 months from the time of launch and will be able to land on the Moon's surface after 4 to 6 months.

SLIM is designed to land within 100 meters of a specific location on the Moon, much less than the usual range of several kilometers. “By building the SLIM lander, humans will make a qualitative change to being able to land where we want, not just where it is easy to land. By achieving this, we can land on planets that are even more resource-scarce than the Moon,” JAXA stressed. “There has never been a case before of landing precisely at the intended location on a body with significant gravity like the Moon.”

Meanwhile, XRISM - jointly developed by JAXA, the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the European Space Agency (ESA) - is designed to study the amount of matter and energy in the universe, as well as the composition and evolution of celestial bodies.

If successful, the data collected by Japan from the Moon will be used for the US-led Artemis project, which aims to return humans to the Moon by 2025 and promote lunar exploration. The ultimate goal is to explore Mars.

According to VNA