​On Friday, Japan will try to make history by placing a module called SLIM on the surface of the moon, which should come within 100 meters of a given target, thus carrying out a high-precision landing of a satellite. The probe was launched in September on a Japanese H-2A rocket.

One of the small robots that the Japanese mission will send to the moonPhoto: Handout / AFP / Profimedia

Japan has less of a space program budget than the US or China, but it has managed to return samples from two asteroids and plans to send humans into space. Japan is also planning joint missions with India.

The module, called SLIM (Smart Lander for Investigating the Moon) and nicknamed “Moon Sniper”, should land with very high accuracy, that is, at a distance of a maximum of 100 meters from the set target, compared to the average today (several kilometers). The satellite target is called Shioli Crater.

Accuracy will be vital for much more complex missions in the future, when much larger payloads will be sent to the moon, and it will be important that they don’t end up too far from where they’re supposed to be. This technology will also be used by NASA in future Artemis missions.

“The main goal of SLIM is to prove that high-precision selenization is possible. We want to land exactly where we want, not where we can,” said JAXA representatives.

If SLIM successfully reaches the surface of the Moon, it will use the Multispectral Camera to analyze the composition of the lunar soil and rocks and learn more about the interior structure of the Moon. The lander will also place two small robots on the surface of the moon, which will take pictures.

The SLIM probe should begin its descent to the lunar surface on Friday, January 19 at 17:00 (Romanian time) and, if there are no problems, it should reach its destination in 20 minutes. This will be the first successful landing in the history of Japanese space missions after two failed attempts.

From a height of 15 km, descent maneuvers will begin, and, according to a JAXA representative, the result of 20 years of work will be visible in 20 minutes.

The JAXA SLIM spacecraft reached lunar orbit on Christmas Day last year.