Japan became the fifth country to successfully land a spacecraft on the moon. Japan has also been added to the list of countries that have landed spacecraft on the surface of the moon. With the success of the Smart Lander for Investigating the Moon (SLIM), the Moon Sniper lunar mission, Japan has been added to the list. With this, Japan became the fifth country to reach the surface of the moon after America, then the Soviet Union, China, and India.
The Japanese spacecraft touched the surface of the moon at 9:05 PM Nepali time on Friday. But it is said that the solar cells of the aircraft have stopped producing electricity. In that case, the spacecraft will not be able to conduct scientific tests on the lunar surface.
It is said that even if the heater is turned off to activate the Moon Sniper, the battery will last only a few hours on the lunar surface. For this reason, Yamakawa mentioned that solar panels are expected to be heated by sunlight. According to him, the plane landed within 100 meters of the target.
Usually, the craft land on the surface within a few kilometers of their target. But this lunar mission landed within 100 meters of its target. That is why it is called Moon Sniper.
Although this mission ends here, Jaxa believes that the technology used in the spacecraft will be useful for the future, and through the same technology, it will be possible to reach parts of the moon that can be a source of oxygen and water in the future.