Japan Becomes the Fifth Country to Reach the Moon 

On January 20th, 2024, Japan became the fifth country to successfully land on the Moon. The United States of America, the Soviet Union, China, India and Japan are the only five countries to have achieved this feat. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) successfully landed a spacecraft named Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) on the surface of the moon this Saturday. Nicknamed ‘Moon Sniper,’ this spacecraft was unmanned, meaning there were no astronauts on board. 

The main aim of this space mission was to achieve a pinpoint landing, i.e. accurately landing a spacecraft at a specific location. This mission has yet to be declared a complete success, as scientists are still investigating whether the spacecraft achieved a precise landing. The head of the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (a unit of Japan’s space agency) Hitoshi Kuninaka, confirmed that SLIM’s small rovers were launched as planned and that data is being transferred back to Earth. According to JAXA, it will take a month to determine if SLIM has successfully landed with high precision.

SLIM contained two probes- Lex 1 and Lex 2, both equipped with cameras to take pictures of the mission and send them back to Earth. 

Japan’s successful moon landing stands as a remarkable achievement, showcasing the country’s advanced technological and scientific strength. It is a big step forward, putting them prominently on the map in space exploration.