Despite constant political excuses and budget cuts, the Moon continues to await our return. The latest news takes us to Japan, where its space agency has announced the intention to send an unmanned mission to the lunar surface, with the goal of collecting data and developing advanced technology that enables precision soft landings. This step could turn the Moon into an ideal springboard for sending missions to Mars.
When we talk about Solar System exploration, our thoughts fly at full speed toward the red planet. Mars has already received the best of our technological development and curiosity, but there are many who believe that we still have a pending debt with the Moon. The goal of the Apollo missions was never to reduce its importance to zero; however, that seems to be the vision of politicians who approve billions of dollars in military budgets while almost completely ignoring scientific progress. Fortunately, space agencies do not give up, and they demonstrate at every moment their skill in adapting to the most severe cuts. Who wants to reach the Moon this time? None other than Japan.
One might conclude that the Japanese government has a huge priority in cleaning up the radioactive debris linked to the Fukushima nuclear disaster, but even that does not stop the local Aerospace Exploration Agency JAXA from announcing its intention to send an unmanned probe to the lunar surface, under the name SLIM (Smart Lander for Investigating Moon). Available data indicates that SLIM should begin its activities in April 2018, and that the probe will reach our satellite thanks to the solid-fuel Epsilon rocket, which has been in development for more than eight years. Japan's lunar initiatives began in September 2007 with the launch of the Kaguya probe, crashing into the lunar surface almost two years later (as planned).
According to official reports, SLIM's primary objective will be to collect data and stimulate the development of new technologies for soft landings, a process that in theory could turn the Moon into a kind of springboard that facilitates sending manned missions to Mars. The budget has not yet been approved, but initial estimates indicate an average of 15 billion yen, just over 117 million euros. If all goes well, Japan will join the select club formed by the United States, China, and Russia, the only three countries that have so far managed to successfully send unmanned probes to the Moon.
