 module. Sponsored The head of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Hiroshi Yamakawa, told a news conference that Slim was set to land on the moon in February after making a long, fuel-efficient journey. The rocket successfully released the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (Slim) module KYODO NEWS/AP The mission has cost about £80 million — a relatively low budget in space exploration terms — and the module aims to land within 100m of its target site; previous landings have){kind=link}
Japan successfully launched a rocket this morning carrying an unmanned spacecraft nicknamed the “Moon Sniper” in a bid to become the fifth nation to land on the moon.
The H-2A rocket lifted off from the Tanegashima space centre, on a southern island in the East China Sea, at 8.42am local time and successfully released the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (Slim) module.
The head of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Hiroshi Yamakawa, told a news conference that Slim was set to land on the moon in February after making a long, fuel-efficient journey.
The mission has cost about £80 million – a relatively low budget in space exploration terms – and the module aims to land within 100m of its target site; previous landings have
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