Japan’s exciting plan to send a lunar probe called Smart Lander for Investigating the Moon (SLIM) had to be postponed due to bad weather. The launch was supposed to happen from the Tanegashima Space Centre on August 28.
This probe, created by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), is a big deal for Japan. It’s meant to land on the Moon, study Moon rocks, and show off some really precise landing techniques.
If all goes well, this mission could make Japan the fifth country to successfully land a probe on the Moon. This is important because it will also provide useful information for the US-led Artemis program, which wants to send people to the Moon.
Along with SLIM, the same rocket is carrying another mission called X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM). This shows how serious Japan is about space research.
JAXA, the agency behind this, made sure to double-check everything before launching the rocket. They wanted to make sure everything went smoothly after a not-so-perfect rocket launch earlier.
This news comes after India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission, where we successfully landed a rover on the Moon’s South Pole. This shows that many countries are really excited about exploring the Moon and learning its secrets.
