Science Japan to launch two moon probes

The two spacecraft will be launched on Monday, Japan Time, aboard a large next-generation rocket called the SLS developed by the US space agency NASA. Omotenashi has been developed to become Japan's first spacecraft to land on the moon. The probe will hit the moon's surface at a speed of 180 kilometers per hour, then send radio waves back to the Earth. The spacecraft has been equipped with protective measures, including a shock-absorbing material. Researchers hope to use data obtained by the mission to help make future lunar probes smaller and lighter. Equuleus's mission is to reach a specific area on the far side of the moon. The team wants to see whether the probe can fly to locations important for space exploration without difficulty.

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Japan would have been the fourth country to land a spacecraft on the moon's surface, after the former Soviet Union, the U.S. and China. Measuring 11 centimeters by 24 cm by 37 cm, OMOTENASHI would have been the smallest craft ever to touch down on the moon. JAXA plans to hold a news conference Tuesday. The agency said it will work with other organizations involved to determine what went wrong and how to move forward. It will continue working to restore communications with OMOTENASHI, hoping the craft can be used to measure radiation and for other experiments.

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