Japan Becomes 5th Country to Land Moon

Facts

• Japan's uncrewed lunar lander completed a successful touchdown on the moon's surface at 10:20 a.m. ET Friday (12:20 a.m. Saturday local time), making the country only the fifth to soft-land on Earth's natural satellite, after the US, the Soviet Union, China, and India.¹
• Though JAXA, Japan's space agency, believes the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) achieved its goal of a high-precision landing, the spacecraft's solar panels weren't generating power, which could cut its mission short.²
• JAXA is reportedly prioritizing the transfer of SLIM's data to Earth as — due to the solar panel issues — the spacecraft is relying only on its batteries, which will eventually run out despite 'life-sustaining treatments,' including shutting off its heater to conserve energy.³
• While most previous moon missions have used landing zones about 10 kilometers (six miles) wide, SLIM, nicknamed 'the Moon Sniper,' was reportedly using 'pinpoint landing' technology and aiming at a target of only 100 meters (330 feet).⁴
• JAXA officials claim SLIM's landing meets the minimal requirements for the lunar mission's success. However, they added it would take more time to analyze whether the spacecraft could achieve its priority of making a pinpoint landing.⁵
• Meanwhile, Japan's space agency, which has twice landed robots on asteroids, has partnered with NASA to send an astronaut to the moon as part of the US space agency's Artemis program.⁶

Sources: ¹CNN, ²The Japan Times, ³Reuters, ⁴Associated Press, ⁵The New York Times and ⁶BBC News.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by Al Jazeera. It's a historic day as Japan has successfully tested an unprecedented experimental technology essential to shedding light on the mystery of the moon's possible water resources. The touchdown on the moon not only gives a much-needed boost to Japan's space program but also allows Tokyo to properly assert its position in lunar development.
• Narrative B, as provided by Space News. As more and more nations are aiming for the moon and beyond, there's no doubt that the great space race has begun. While competition can breed success, it can also morph into conflict, particularly between rivals, such as the US and China. It seems that the great power competition risks dangerously transcending to space. Let's encourage progress, but ensure countries are in it for the right reasons.

Predictions