Japan to aim for moon this weekend; Becomes next in line for lunar mission after India, Russia
Video Credit: Oneindia - Duration: 02:36s - Published
Japan to aim for moon this weekend; Becomes next in line for lunar mission after India, Russia
Japan will be the latest country to aim for the moon this weekend, just days after a Russian spacecraft collided with the lunar surface and India’s Chandrayaan-3 landed near its south pole.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s H2-A rocket is scheduled to take off on Sunday morning from Tanegashima Space Centre in southern Japan, carrying an advanced imaging satellite and a lightweight lander expected to touch down on the moon in January or February.
JAXA’s H2-A, the agency’s most reliable rocket with just one failure out of 42 launches since 2001, will be carrying the Small Lander for Investigating Moon, or SLIM.
Standing less than 3 metres tall, the lander could pave the way for other probes with high navigational accuracy.
The rocket will also be carrying the X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission, a satellite that will help scientists observe plasma in stars and galaxies.
An underground cave stretching tens of metres below an open pit on the moon has been discovered which could be a potential base for future astronauts, say.. Sky News
Recently Spotted Asteroid, Set for Near Miss With Earth.
ABC reports that an asteroid
is set to make a close pass
by Earth this weekend.
Asteroid 2024 MK should
be visible with the proper
equipment and timing. .
Asteroid 2024 MK should
be visible with the proper
equipment and timing. .
The space rock will make its closest approach past
Earth early on June 29, passing at just three-quarters
of the distance between the Earth and the Moon.
The asteroid, which was first spotted two
weeks ago by an observatory in South Africa,
is estimated to be about 393 feet to 853 feet wide.
According to asteroid expert Davide Farnocchia,
who works for NASA's Center for Near-Earth
Object Studies, asteroids the size of 2024 MK
only pass by about every 25 years.
We’re going to see a few
of those during our lifetimes,
but it’s not something that
happens every other day, Davide Farnocchia, NASA Center for
Near-Earth Object Studies, via ABC.
On June 27, a 7,579-foot asteroid just passed
the Earth at a slightly greater distance and
was only visible with professional telescopes.
The upcoming 2024 MK will be visible
with a small telescope but will not
be visible to the naked eye. .
ABC reports that skywatchers in
the Southern Hemisphere will have
the best odds of spotting the asteroid.
The next major asteroid is set for April 13, 2029,
when Apophis will pass Earth and be visible with
the naked eye to viewers in Europe, Africa and Asia.
Credit: Wibbitz Top Stories Duration: 01:31Published
ESA and China Space Agency , Collaboration Detects Negative Ions , on Dark Side of Moon.
China's Chang'e-6 lunar lander landed on the
dark side of the Moon, successfully gathered
samples and lifted off in just over 48 hours. .
'Futurism' reports that the historic feat resulted in the
first-ever samples collected from the far side of the
Moon, which permanently faces away from the Earth.
The trip also saw the lander deposit several scientific
payloads, including the Negative Ions at the Lunar Surface
(NILS) instrument for the European Space Agency.
This was ESA’s first activity on the
surface of the Moon, a world-first
scientifically, and a first lunar
cooperation with China, Neil Melville, ESA’s technical officer for the experiment, via 'Futurism'.
The moon's lack of a magnetic field makes
the surface extremely vulnerable to charged solar
particles, which create negatively charged ions. .
Before it could make its observations, the NILS instrument
had to be adjusted to the extreme lunar surface conditions,
going through a cycle of reboots and blackouts.
Once it adjusted, the instrument detected negative ions
from solar winds bombarding the Moon's surface and
successfully transmitted back usable data.
We have collected an
amount and quality of data
far beyond our expectations, Neil Melville, ESA’s technical officer for the experiment, via 'Futurism'.
'Futurism' explains that the data could have significant
implications for our understanding of how our celestial
neighborhood deals without having a magnetic field. .
These observations on the Moon will
help us better understand the surface
environment and act as a pathfinder
to explore negative ion populations
in other airless bodies in the
Solar System, from planets to
asteroids and other moons, Martin Wieser, NILS principal investigator, via 'Futurism'
Credit: Wibbitz Top Stories Duration: 01:31Published
In this episode, we will tell you about India’s historic feat of landing a spacecraft near the lunar south pole for the first time. We will explain why the lunar south pole is a unique and..
A game-changing moment emerged in 2008 when India's Chandrayaan-1 mission unveiled an astonishing find: water on the moon's surface. This groundbreaking revelation reignited the..
New Delhi: Russia's lunar hopes have been dashed as the Luna-25 probe, the country's first Moon mission in nearly half a century, crashed on the lunar surface during pre-landing..
![Recently Spotted Asteroid Set for Near Miss With Earth [Video]](https://video.newsserve.net/300/v/20240628/1379913002-Recently-Spotted-Asteroid-Set-for-Near-Miss-With.jpg)
![China brings back first samples from far side of the Moon [Video]](https://video.newsserve.net/300/v/20240625/1379526920-China-brings-back-first-samples-from-far-side.jpg)
![ESA and China Space Agency Collaboration Detects Negative Ions on Dark Side of Moon [Video]](https://video.newsserve.net/300/v/20240610/1378153534-ESA-and-China-Space-Agency-Collaboration-Detects-Negative.jpg)
![The Secret of the Moon’s South Pole Revealed by India’s Chandrayaan-3 Mission [Video]](https://video.newsserve.net/300/v/20230830/1693395341-The-Secret-of-the-Moon-South-Pole.jpg)
![India Makes History! | Chandrayaan 3 Lunar Landing | [Video]](https://video.newsserve.net/300/v/20230829/1693316975-India-Makes-History!-Chandrayaan-Lunar-Landing.jpg)
![Russia's Historic Moon Mission Ends In Crash: Details Of Final Minutes [Video]](https://video.newsserve.net/300/v/20230829/1693294770-Russia-apos-Historic-Moon-Mission-Ends-In.jpg)
