Countdown begins: Japan’s ‘Moon Sniper’ to make historic lunar landing on Saturday

Japan, with its SLIM mission, wants to become fifth nation to pull off a fiendishly tricky soft landing on the Moon’s rocky surface
An optical observation satellite on H-IIA rocket is launched at Tanegashima Space Center on the southwestern island of Tanegashima, Japan in this photo taken by Kyodo on January 12, 2024. — Reuters
An optical observation satellite on H-IIA rocket is launched at Tanegashima Space Center on the southwestern island of Tanegashima, Japan in this photo taken by Kyodo on January 12, 2024. — Reuters

Using pinpoint technology Japan’s "Moon Sniper" spacecraft is gearing up to make a historic lunar touchdown at midnight on Saturday as the country hopes it will lead to success; however, many have failed.

Japan, with its Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) mission, wants to become the fifth nation to pull off a fiendishly tricky soft landing on the Moon’s rocky surface.

It should be noted that so far only the United States, the Soviet Union, China and India have accomplished the feat.

But the Japanese lander — equipped with a rolling probe developed by a major toy company — has been designed to do so with unprecedented precision.

The descent of the lightweight SLIM craft, nicknamed the "Moon Sniper" by space agency JAXA, is scheduled to start at midnight Japan time (1500 GMT Friday).

If all goes to plan, the touchdown will occur around 20 minutes later.

The craft is targeting an area within 100 metres (330 feet) of a spot on the surface, far tighter than the usual landing zone of several kilometres.

Success would reverse Japan’s fortunes in space after two failed lunar missions and recent rocket failures, including explosions after take-off.

It would also echo the triumph of India’s low-cost space programme in August when the country became the first to land an uncrewed craft near the Moon’s largely unexplored south pole.

Emily Brunsden, senior lecturer in astrophysics and director of the University of York´s Astrocampus said: “A safe landing for SLIM is "a very big deal".

"The ‘sniper’ landing precision is a huge leap in technology that will allow missions to be designed to target much more specific research questions," she said while speaking to AFP.

But the task remains "exceptionally technologically challenging", Brunsden warned.

"Usually there is only one chance to do it right, so the smallest of errors can cause a mission to fail."

SLIM will try to reach a crater where the Moon´s mantle -- the usually deep inner layer beneath its crust -- is believed to be accessible at the surface.

SLIM’s spherical metal probe, slightly bigger than a tennis ball and carrying a camera, was jointly developed by JAXA and Japanese toy giant Takara Tomy.

Previous Japanese lunar missions have failed twice -- one public and one private.

In 2022, the country unsuccessfully sent a lunar probe named Omotenashi as part of the United States´ Artemis 1 mission.

In April, Japanese startup ispace tried in vain to become the first private company to land on the Moon, losing communication with its craft after what it described as a "hard landing".