Japan’s space exploration efforts have reached a critical juncture as the nation’s lunar lander, dubbed “Moon Sniper,” made a successful descent onto the lunar surface. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) confirmed this significant milestone on Friday, stating that the unmanned module landed at 10:20 a.m. Eastern Time, which corresponds to 12:20 a.m. Saturday in Japan Standard Time. The landing site was near the diminutive Shioli crater, just to the south of the Sea of Tranquility — a location renowned for NASA’s Apollo 11’s historic touchdown in 1969, followed by five other successful Apollo missions and one that did not achieve its intended lunar landing.
However, the triumph of the landing was tempered by concerns over the lander’s power system. During a live transmission, JAXA officials reported challenges with the lander’s solar cell, which is crucial for generating electricity. This technical difficulty has raised alarms about the potential for an abbreviated mission duration. The gravity of the situation was underscored at a subsequent press conference where the officials acknowledged the successful landing but highlighted the power generation issue that could curtail the mission’s objectives.
The mission, known as the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM), has a scientific agenda focused on lunar rock analysis. The rocks scattered across the moon’s surface, a result of meteorite impacts and other celestial collisions, are of particular interest to researchers. These rocks, as CNN has elucidated, are akin to windows into the moon’s interior. The mineral content and other characteristics of these rocks could unveil secrets about the moon’s formation and evolution.
Japan’s foray into lunar exploration places it among a select group of nations that have managed to land on the moon since the end of the Apollo missions. This group includes the former Soviet Union, which achieved six landings with the first in 1970; China, with three landings and its inaugural one in 2013; and India, which successfully landed its Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft near the lunar south pole in the previous August. All these missions, including Japan’s recent undertaking, have been uncrewed.
The landscape of lunar exploration is marked by intense activity and notable setbacks. Over the past years, several missions from various space agencies have failed to achieve a soft landing on the moon. In a disheartening instance from the previous year, Japan’s Hakuto-R lander met its demise on the lunar surface during an attempted landing. Similarly, Russia’s Luna-25, in an effort to mark the nation’s lunar return post the Soviet era, also crashed during its landing attempt.
In a recent event that underscores the challenges of space exploration, the United States’ Astrobotic Technology’s Peregrine spacecraft, which was the nation’s first lunar lander mission since Apollo 17 in 1972, encountered a severe fuel leak. The malfunction forced the spacecraft to abort its lunar quest, resulting in its destruction upon re-entry over a remote stretch of the South Pacific.
These sequences of events have had a ripple effect on NASA’s plans for manned lunar exploration. The Artemis III mission, which aims to return astronauts to the moon, has seen its timeline extended. Originally scheduled for a sooner launch, the mission is now projected to take place by the end of 2026, marking at least a year’s delay.
As the international community watches, Japan’s current lunar mission hangs in the balance, with the potential for significant scientific discoveries dependent on the resolution of the power supply issue. The outcome of this mission will not only shape Japan’s space exploration portfolio but also contribute to the collective understanding of our celestial neighbour.
