TOKYO: The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has announced a plan to land an unmanned spacecraft on the Moon by 2018.
If successful, Japan will join the former Soviet Union, the United States, and China as the only nations to touch down on the lunar surface – the latter accomplishing the feat most recently in 2013.
This is an initial step and a lot of procedures are still ahead before the plan is formally approved,” a JAXA spokesperson told reporters.
Right now, the mission is estimated to cost somewhere between US$83 and $125 million and is pending approval from the Japanese government. If it goes ahead, however, it could pave the way for future missions to search for mineral deposits on the Moon, and might be a stepping-stone for exploring Mars.
As Euan McKirdy from CNN explains, the plan is to develop a high-precision soft-landing technology, which could be used for future manned missions to either the Moon or Mars.
This technology will be incorporated into an unmanned probe known as the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon, or just SLIM.
JAXA spokesperson Chihito Onda told CNN the lander will use face recognition software found in digital cameras, which will be re-engineered to help the craft recognise craters on the lunar surface.
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