Now, Japan's space agency JAXA to launch Moon mission: Check date, other details

The main aim of the mission is to demonstrate accurate lunar landing techniques, which will help make more challenging landing areas more accessible.

The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is gearing up for the launch of Smart Lander or SLIM for investigating the Moon on August 26 - just three days after the scheduled Chandrayaan-3's soft landing. According to media reports, the lander is scheduled to launch as a "ride-share" payload with the XRISM mission on an H2A booster from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan at 00:34:57 UTC (6:04 am IST).

Japan to launch Moon ‘Sniper’ lander on August 26

Here are the details about the mission:

1. Reportedly, the main aim of the mission is to demonstrate accurate lunar landing techniques, which will help make more challenging landing areas more accessible. “LUNAR-A will directly investigate the interior of the Moon, which could provide a lot of data on the Moon’s origin and evolution,” JAXA wrote on its website.
2. The SLIM lander which is .9 feet (2.4 meters) high, 8.8 feet (2.7 m) wide, and 5.6 feet (1.7 m) deep, will aim to touch down within 328 feet (100 m) of its target point.
3. The SLIM spacecraft is reportedly equipped with a landing radar for its descent onto the lunar surface and will use image-matching navigation and obstacle detection.
4. The mission will be targeting a landing within Shioli Crater, a relatively fresh, 984-foot-wide (300 m) impact feature within Mare Nectaris, at 13 degrees south latitude and 25 degrees east longitude on the near side of the moon, reported Space.com.
5. According to JAXA, the SLIM architecture could make landing on the moon and planets more economical, save weight, and could lead to small, targeted sample return missions.

Meanwhile, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), several lunar exploration programs are set to be launched in the next couple of years including Peregrine Mission 1 - NASA CLPS Lunar Lander, IM-1 - NASA CLPS Lunar Lander, Lunar Trailblazer - NASA Lunar Orbiting Small Satellite, Griffin Mission 1 - VIPER - NASA Lunar South Pole Rover, among others.