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Japan became the fifth country in history to reach the moon when one of its spacecraft without astronauts successfully made a soft landing on the lunar surface early January 20.
However, space officials said they needed more time to analyze whether the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM), achieved its mission priority of making a pinpoint landing. They also said the craft’s solar panel had failed to generate power, which could shorten its activity on the moon.
Japan follows the United States, the Soviet Union, China, and India in reaching the moon. Hitoshi Kuninaka, head of the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, said he believes that Japan’s space program at least achieved “minimum” success.
For the mission to be considered fully successful, space officials needed to confirm whether SLIM made a pinpoint landing. Kuninaka said that while more time was needed, he personally thought it was most likely achieved. He said the solar panel is possibly not in the planned angle, but there is still hope.
Despite the solar panel issue, “It’s delightful news,” Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said in a message posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, pledging the government’s continuing backing for the endeavors toward new challenges.
SLIM, which was aiming to hit a very small target, is a lightweight spacecraft about the size of a passenger vehicle. It was using “pinpoint landing” technology that promises far greater control than any previous moon landing.
A landing of such precision would be a world’s first, and would be crucial technology for a sustainable, long-term, and accurate space probe system, said Hiroshi Yamakawa, president of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA.
Japan needs the technology to secure its place and contribute to international space projects, Yamakawa said.
“It is necessary to show the world that Japan has the appropriate technology in order to be able to properly assert Japan’s position in lunar development,” said Takeshi Tsuchiya, an aeronautics professor at the Graduate School of Engineering at the University of Tokyo. “The moon is important from the perspective of explorations of resources, and it can also be used as a base to go to other planets, like Mars,” he said.
This article was provided by The Associated Press.