Japan counts down to precision ‘moon sniper’ landing mission

Japan aims to become the fifth country to put a spacecraft on the moon when it attempts a precision landing on Friday, in what would be a boost for a space programme that has suffered a wave of setbacks and been eclipsed by rival China.
Dubbed the “moon sniper”, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency probe is attempting to land within 100 metres of its target, a technology JAXA says is unprecedented and essential in the search for moon water and human habitability.
Japan is increasingly looking to play a bigger role in space, partnering with close ally Washington to respond to China’s military and technological might, including in space. Japan boasts a number of private-sector space startups and aims to send an astronaut to the moon as part of NASA’s Artemis programme.
JAXA’s Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) probe will start a 20-minute touchdown phase on its one-way mission from midnight on Saturday, trying to land on a target site roughly the size of two athletic tracks on the slope of a crater just south of the lunar equator.