Key events
The powered descent (which will begin in about 10 minutes) will begin from 15 km above the lunar surface, Japanese space agency officials say.
The vertical descent will start at 7 km.
Just before landing, at 2 meters, the probe will release two small rovers.
In this live stream, Japanese space agency officials refer to a “rabbit” on the moon.
While people in the west see the image of a face on the moon, people in East Asia have long seen the shape of a rabbit instead!
How the probe will make such a precise landing
Ian Example
Our science editor, Ian Examplehas some fascinating details about how the probe plans to make such a precise landing:
There is more to this mission than simply joining the soft moon landing club.
The goal is to demonstrate technologies that future missions will need to land exactly where they need to. Until now, space agencies have been happy for landers to land anywhere in an area of a few km square – they just went for the safest options.
But this probe hopes to demonstrate technologies that give you more precise landings which are going to be important – if you want to mine a certain crater, you don’t want to land 5 km away, you want to land right next to it.
This probe has similar AI to that used in facial recognition, which it will use to recognize patterns of craters on the moon as it flies by. This then feeds into the lander’s calculations for trajectory and engine fires.
Shin Toriumi, of the Japanese space agency, Jaxa, says the descent phase of the lunar lander (which happens in about half an hour) is known internally as “20 minutes of terror”.
You’ll see above we have a live video feed from the Japanese space agency to take us through the landing.
It is presented by Shin Toriumi from the Institute of Space and Aerospace Science at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Jaxa.
Opening summary
Oliver Holmes
A Japanese spacecraft is headed for the moon on a mission to prove that a highly precise landing on the lunar surface can be made.
In about 30 minutes, the probe – dubbed the “lunar sniper” for its accuracy – will begin its descent. It intends to make a “soft” and safe landing within the next hour.
If successful, it will make the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM). Japan the fifth country to land safely on the lunar surface. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (Jaxa) hopes precision technology will land the lightweight craft within 100 meters of a predetermined target on the moon’s surface – a dramatic improvement on previous missions, in which the landing zones measured several kilometres.
Jaxa officials say the lunar sniper is a “technology demonstrator” that will provide essential information for future crewed missions, and the eventual establishment of lunar bases. Slim also carries instruments that will aim to “unravel the origins of the Moon” by analyzing lunar rocks, Jaxa says.
Oliver Holmes here. I was your guide today as Japan seeks to bring the human race one step closer to building a permanent presence on our nearest neighbor, only 380,000 km (239,000 miles) away.
