Japan's 'Moon Sniper' attempts historic lunar landing
Japan's "Moon Sniper" spacecraft is preparing to make a historic lunar touchdown using pinpoint technology the country hopes will lead to success where many have failed. With its Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (Slim) mission, Japan wants to become the fifth nation to pull off a fiendishly tricky soft landing on the Moon's rocky surface. Only the United States, the Soviet Union, China and India have accomplished the feat so far. But the Japanese lander – equipped with a rolling probe developed by a major toy company – has been designed to do so with unprecedented precision. The descent of the lightweight Slim craft, nicknamed the "Moon Sniper" by space agency Jaxa, is scheduled to start at midnight Japan time (11pm Hong Kong time). If all goes to plan, the touchdown will take place around 20 minutes later. The craft is targeting an area within 100 metres of a spot on the surface, far tighter than the usual landing zone of several kilometres. Success would reverse Japan's fortunes in space after two failed lunar missions and recent rocket failures, including explosions after take-off. It would also echo the triumph of India's low-cost space programme in August, when the country became the first to land an uncrewed craft near the Moon's largely unexplored south pole.  Meanwhile, a crippled American spaceship has been lost over a remote region of the South Pacific, probably burning up in the atmosphere in a fiery end to its failed mission to land on the Moon. Astrobotic's Peregrine lander was launched on January 8 under an experimental new partnership between Nasa and private industry intended to reduce costs for American taxpayers and seed a lunar economy. (AFP)