Japan and Selene
Welcome to the era of precision Moon landings
Japan’s SLIM lander has sparked a new era of precision landings, with big implications for lunar science and exploration
Japan and Selene
By Jatan Mehta | Coverage, with context, of Japan’s multiple efforts to explore the Moon.
Moon Monday
Moon Monday #162: Mission updates on SLIM, CAPSTONE, and Queqiao 2, a gist of Gateway science, and more
Mission updates SLIM Japan’s SLIM lunar lander entered sleep mode on January 31, two days after it woke up when pre-dusk sunlight struck its solar panels from the west. Like Chandrayaan 3, SLIM wasn’t designed to survive the frigid lunar night, when temperatures can plunge below -100° Celsius.
Japan and Selene
Moon Monday #161: Savoring SLIM’s success in precision landing, India’s role in it, and more mission updates
After ruminating over SLIM’s Moon landing and the news of it achieving its goal of a precision landing, it’s clear that there are many more implications and aspects of the mission to consider so as to savor its selene success. Enjoy the SLIM special Moon Monday! SLIM is
Japan and Selene
Moon Monday #160: On Japan’s breakthrough with SLIM and investing in a lunar future
Traveling in another continent presented several challenges for me to work on this week’s Moon Monday, which is why it’s slightly delayed. But I wanted to make sure to get it right because SLIM’s incredible lunar landing is a win in multiple ways. Hope you like this
Japan and Selene
Moon Monday #154: ispace Japan progresses toward another lunar landing with RESILIENCE, as must Starship in NASA’s road to Luna
Meet RESILIENCE, ispace Japan’s second Moon mission Following ispace Japan’s failed touchdown attempt on the Moon with the M1 mission in April, the company has improved the hardware and software design of the Hakuto-R lander for the M2 mission in late 2024, called “RESILIENCE” to reflect the spirited
Moon Monday
Moon Monday #152: Covering India and Japan’s next Moonshot, South Korea’s lunar lander, Artemis updates, and more
<This edition of Moon Monday was pre-scheduled on Sunday night IST to get published and delivered per usual on Monday since I’m tending to a family need.> I’m delighted to welcome space writer and author Gurbir Singh as an individual sponsor of both Moon Monday and
Artemis
Moon Monday #144: On the most precise planetary landing attempt by SLIM, sprawling SLS rocket costs, and more
Japan launches the SLIM lunar lander with an unprecedented aim On September 7, Japan launched the 2012-proposed SLIM lander to the Moon. Shortly after separating from the upper stage of its H-IIA launch vehicle in Earth orbit, SLIM completed sun acquisition control and JAXA reported its health to be normal.
Japan and Selene
Moon Monday #129: ispace lander’s crash site and cause, mission updates, and more
ispace Japan’s first Moon lander crashed less than 7 kilometers from its target site Just a month after ispace Japan’s first lunar lander Hakuto-R failed to touchdown on the Moon on April 25, the company has identified from telemetry data the key causes of the M1 surface mission
Japan and Selene
Moon Monday #125: ispace Japan’s Moonshot, China’s partnership push, Artemis updates, and more
On ispace’s failed Moon landing attempt and related tangents for NASA’s CLPS craft On April 25, ispace Japan’s first lunar lander Hakuto-R aced through its remotely-initiated, hour-long autonomous descent on the Moon until the very last moments when it stopped communicating to Earth. ispace said that while
Moon Monday
Moon Monday #111: An Indo-Japanese rover, China’s 4th lunar leap, Artemis collaborations, and more
Dear readers, I have 3 exciting things to share with you today: 1. Moon Monday crossed 4,000 subscribers last week, with the majority gratifyingly continuing to be planetary scientists and engineers, personnel at national space agencies, executives at space companies, and fellow writers & journalists from around the world!
Japan and Selene
ispace Japan’s lander launches for the Moon, carrying UAE’s rover and hopes for its future lunar ambitions
Edit on May 29, 2023: The lander failed to touchdown. :( Today, December 11, private Japanese company ispace inc. launched its first ever Moon mission M1 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. ispace’s robotic “Hakuto-R” spacecraft is now on a low-energy, fuel-efficient trajectory to the Moon, after four months of