The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is expected to launch a revolutionary satellite and the "Moon Sniper" lunar lander on Monday. The XRISM mission of Japan will contain a satellite, called the X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission that is said to reveal celestial objects as part a joint mission between JAXA and NASA.
According to a report by CNN, JAXA is also launching SLIM, short for Smart Lander for Investigating Moon, with the XRISM spacecraft. This lunar lander is design to demonstrate a "pinpoint landing" in any location within 100 metres by relying on high-precision landing technology. Hence, it is called Moon Sniper.
The launch has been delayed twice due to bad weather, but the launch will take place aboard a H-IIA rocket from the Tanegashima Space Centre at 9:26 a.m. Japan Standard Time on Monday (5:56 am IST). The European Space Agency and Canadian Space Agency have also contributed to the mission.
According to NASA, the satellite and its two instruments will observe the universe’s hottest regions, largest structures and objects with the strongest gravity. The XRISM mission is aimed towards detecting X-ray lights, which are invisible to the human eye.
XRISM has thousands of curved individual nested mirrors which are designed to detect X-rays in a better manner. The satellite will need to calibrate for a few months once it reaches orbit. The mission is designed to operate for three years.
Moon Sniper's mission
The SLIM will use its own propulsion system to arrive in the Moon's orbit about three to four months after launch, orbit the moon for one month, and begin its descent and attempt a soft landing between four to six months after launch, CNN reported.
SLIM is targeting a site near a small lunar impact crater called Shioli, where it will investigate the composition of rocks that may help scientists uncover the origins of the moon. This is in contrast with other lunar missions which aim for the Moon's south pole, as with the recent successful mission of Chandrayaan-3.
Japanese company Ispace’s Hakuto-R lunar lander fell 4.8 kilometers before crashing into the moon during a landing attempt in April.
About Chandrayaan-3
India on August 23 scripted history as its ambitious third Moon mission Chandrayaan-3's Lander Module (LM) touched down on the lunar surface, making it only the fourth country to accomplish the feat, and the first to reach the uncharted south pole of Earth's only natural satellite.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Sunday released the first observations from Chandra's Surface Thermophysical Experiment (ChaSTE) payload on the Chandrayaan-3's Vikram lander.
Earlier in the day, ISRO Chairman S Somanath said India is capable of launching more interplanetary missions and the objective of the space agency is the overall progress of the country through the expansion of the space sector.
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