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☆ Japan Moon Landing Small Spacecraft Aims to Make Japan 5th Nation on the Moon
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-12 | by ( The New York Times | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

If the landing succeeds, it will make Japan the fifth country to land on the moon, after the Soviet Union, the United States, China and India. Here’s what to know about SLIM’s lunar landing: SLIM is currently in lunar orbit and will begin its descent around 10:40 a.m. Eastern time on Friday. The experimental SLIM spacecraft, nicknamed “moon sniper,” is about the size of a small food truck. The mission’s primary goal is to demonstrate a navigation system that could help future spacecraft land on the moon or other worlds with more precision. After landing it will eject two small rovers, LEV-1 and LEV-2, which will briefly explore around the lander.

Persons: Smart Lander, SLIM, LEV Organizations: JAXA, Smart Locations: Japan, Soviet Union, United States, China, India

☆ Japan launches X-ray satellite, ‘Moon Sniper’ lunar lander
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-06 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —A revolutionary satellite that will reveal celestial objects in a new light and the “Moon Sniper” lunar lander lifted off Wednesday night. The XRISM satellite (pronounced “crism”), also called the X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission, is a joint mission between JAXA and NASA, along with participation from the European Space Agency and Canadian Space Agency. NASA Goddard Space Flight CenterAlong for the ride is JAXA’s SLIM, or Smart Lander for Investigating Moon. Previously, Japanese company Ispace’s Hakuto-R lunar lander fell 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) before crashing into the moon during a landing attempt in April. If SLIM is successful, JAXA contends, it will transform missions from “landing where we can to landing where we want.”

Persons: Ray, SLIM, Smart Lander, ”, Richard Kelley, James Webb, XRISM, Taylor Mickal, ” Kelley, “, Xtend, Brian Williams, NASA’s, Goddard, Ispace’s Organizations: CNN, Japanese Space Agency, YouTube, Ray Imaging, JAXA, NASA, European Space Agency, Canadian Space Agency, NASA Goddard Space Flight, Goddard Space Flight, Space Center, Soviet Locations: Japan, Greenbelt , Maryland, XRISM, United States, Soviet Union, China, India

JAXA, the Japanese space agency, is gearing up to launch two very different space missions from one rocket: a new X-ray telescope that will spy on some of the hottest spots in our universe, and a small experimental robotic moon lander. The telescope is called X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission, or XRISM for short (pronounced like the word “chrism”). The lunar mission is called Smart Lander for Investigating Moon, or SLIM. XRISM and SLIM are expected to launch from an H-IIA rocket from Japan’s Tanegashima Space Center on Sunday at 8:26 p.m. Eastern time (it will be Monday at 9:26 a.m. in Japan). JAXA is providing a livestream in both Japanese and English on the agency’s YouTube channel which started around 7:55 p.m. Eastern time.

Persons: Lander, SLIM Organizations: JAXA, Imaging, YouTube Locations: Japan

☆ Japanese company ispace fears its probe crashed into the moon, failing to snag the first private lunar landing
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Japanese company ispace fears its lunar lander crashed into the moon on Tuesday. The HAKUTO-R M1 lunar lander dropped out of communications at the very end of its landing attempt. That operation was conducted by nonprofit SpaceIL, in its own attempt to claim the first private moon landing. Beresheet's engine went out as it descended, then SpaceIL lost communication with the spacecraft, indicating it had crashed into the lunar surface. NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University; Business InsiderJust months later, India's first attempt to land on the lunar surface met a similar fate.

☆ What may have been lost if the Hakuto-R moon lander crashed.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Daniel Victor | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Two countries — Japan and the United Arab Emirates — would lose what would have been their respective countries’ first robotic explorer on the lunar service. JAXA, a Japanese space agency, intended to test a two-wheeled transformable lunar robot, a small sphere with cameras for surface observations. The data from the device would have been used to help design a crewed, pressurized rover, which would allow for transportation on the lunar surface during future astronaut mission. The Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center in Dubai, part of the increasingly active space program of the United Arab Emirates, sent Rashid, a small rover that was to explore the landing site. The rover was set to “study properties of lunar soil, the geology of the Moon, dust movement and the surface plasma environment,” according to NASA.

☆ Virgin Orbit bankruptcy casts shadow over Japan's space dreams
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( Eimi Yamamitsu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Oita prefecture, home to Japan's largest number of hot springs, partnered with Virgin Orbit in 2020 to create its first Asian spaceport at Oita Airport using a Boeing (BA.N) 747 for horizontal rocket launches. Two Japanese companies, ANA Holdings (9202.T) unit All Nippon Airways Trading Co and little-known Japanese satellite development start-up iQPS Inc emerged among the top six creditors when Virgin Orbit filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Tuesday. ANA said it was hopeful Virgin Orbit, which has said it is seeking a buyer, would be able to restructure and resume business. "We pray that Virgin Orbit will resume their business for the development of the global space industry." "It is possible that some other company will buy Virgin Orbit.

☆ Asteroid discovery suggests ingredients for life on Earth came from space
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Will Dunham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/3] The carbonaceous asteroid Ryugu is seen from a distance of about 12 miles (20 km) during the Japanese Space Agency's Hayabusa2 mission on June 30, 2018. Scientists said on Tuesday they detected uracil and niacin in rocks obtained by the Japanese Space Agency's Hayabusa2 spacecraft from two sites on Ryugu in 2019. Scientists long have pondered about the conditions necessary for life to arise after Earth formed about 4.5 billion years ago. "It was directly sampled on the asteroid Ryugu and returned to Earth, and finally to laboratories without any contact with terrestrial contaminants." The U.S. space agency NASA during its OSIRIS-REx mission collected samples in 2020 from the asteroid Bennu.

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