2023-09-07 05:49:04
TOKYO (AP) — Japan launched a rocket Thursday with an X-ray telescope that will explore the origins of the universe, as well as a small lunar lander.
The launch of the HII-A rocket from the Tanegashima Space Center in southwestern Japan was broadcast live by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, known as JAXA.
“We have a liftoff,” the JAXA narrator said as the rocket rose through a puff of smoke before flying over the Pacific.
Thirteen minutes after launch, the rocket launched a satellite called the X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM) into orbit above Earth, which will measure the velocity and composition of what lies between galaxies.
That information will help investigate how celestial bodies formed and hopefully help solve the mystery of the origin of the universe, JAXA noted.
In cooperation with NASA, JAXA will analyze the strength of light at different ranges, the temperature of space bodies, and their shapes and brightness.
David Alexander, director of the Rice Space Institute at Rice University, believes the mission is significant because it will provide information about the properties of hot plasma, the hot matter that makes up much of the universe.
Plasmas have the potential to be used in a number of ways, for example to heal wounds, make computer processors, and clean up the environment.
“Understanding the distribution of this hot plasma in space and time, as well as its dynamic motion, will shed light on various phenomena such as black holes, the evolution of the universe’s chemical elements, and the formation of galaxy clusters,” Alexander explained.
On board was also the Intelligent Module to Investigate the Moon, or SLIM for its acronym in English, a lightweight module that will land on the moon. It won’t reach lunar orbit for another three to four months and will probably try to land early next year, according to the space agency.
The module successfully separated from the rocket about 45 minutes after liftoff and headed for the moon. JAXA workers applauded and bowed in mutual respect from their vantage point.
JAXA develops “state of the art landing technology” to prepare for future lunar probes and missions to other planets. Although current landings tend to miss by 10 kilometers (6 miles) or more, the Smart Module is designed to be more accurate, with a margin of error of about 100 meters (330 feet), the JAXA official told reporters. Shinichiro Sakai before launch.
That allows the boxy craft to find a safer place to land.
The Japanese mission took off at a time when the world once again took on the challenge of reaching the Moon. Just four nations have successfully landed on the satellite: the United States, Russia, China and India.
An Indian spacecraft landed near the lunar south pole last month, just days after Russia failed to return to the moon for the first time in nearly half a century. A spacecraft belonging to a private Japanese company called iSpace crashed in April while attempting to land on the moon.
The Japanese space program has been marred by several recent failures. In February, the launch of the H3 rocket was aborted due to a technical failure. Liftoff the following month was successful, but the rocket had to be destroyed when its second stage failed to activate properly.
Japan has started recruiting astronaut candidates for the first time in 13 years, making clear its aspiration to send Japanese to the Moon.
Reaching the Moon has fascinated humanity for decades. Within the American Apollo program, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the lunar surface in 1969.
NASA’s last manned mission to the Moon was in 1972. Interest in sending humans seemed to fade afterwards, and missions were entrusted to robots.
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