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Japan launches rocket with lunar lander and X-ray telescope to explore
origins of the universe
Japan has launched a rocket with an X-ray telescope that will explore
the origins of the universe
September 07, 2023 08:57 am | Updated 09:06 am IST - TOKYO

AP
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The launch of the HII-A rocket from Tanegashima Space Center in
southwestern Japan was shown on live video [File]
The launch of the HII-A rocket from Tanegashima Space Center in
southwestern Japan was shown on live video [File] | Photo Credit: KYODO

Japan launched a rocket Thursday carrying 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 Tanegashima Space Center in
southwestern Japan was shown on live video by the Japan Aerospace
Exploration Agency, known as JAXA.

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“We have a liftoff,” the narrator at JAXA said as the rocket flew up in
a burst of smoke then flew over the Pacific.

Thirteen minutes after the launch, the rocket put into orbit around
Earth a satellite called the X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission, or
XRISM, which will measure the speed and makeup of what lies between
galaxies.

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That information helps in studying how celestial objects were formed,
and hopefully can lead to solving the mystery of how the universe was
created, JAXA says.

In cooperation with NASA, JAXA will look at the strength of light at
different wavelengths, the temperature of things in space and their
shapes and brightness.

David Alexander, director of the Rice Space Institute at Rice
University, believes the mission is significant for delivering insight
into the properties of hot plasma, or the superheated matter that makes
up much of the universe.

Plasmas have the potential to be used in various ways, including healing
wounds, making computer chips and cleaning the environment.

“Understanding the distribution of this hot plasma in space and time, as
well as its dynamical motion, will shed light on diverse phenomena such
as black holes, the evolution of chemical elements in the universe and
the formation of galactic clusters,” Alexander said.

Also aboard the latest Japanese rocket is the Smart Lander for
Investigating Moon, or SLIM, a lightweight lunar lander. The Smart
Lander won’t make lunar orbit for three or four months after the launch
and would likely attempt a landing early next year, according to the
space agency.

The lander successfully separated from the rocket about 45 minutes after
the launch and proceeded on its proper track to eventually land on the
moon. JAXA workers applauded and bowed with each other from their
observation facility.

JAXA is developing “pinpoint landing technology” to prepare for future
lunar probes and landing on other planets. While landings now tend to be
off by about 10 kilometres (6 miles) or more, the Smart Lander is
designed to be more precise, within about 100 meters (330 feet) of the
intended target, JAXA official Shinichiro Sakai told reporters ahead of
the launch.

That allows the box-shaped gadgetry to find a safer place to land.

The move comes at a time when the world is again turning to the
challenge of going to the moon. Only four nations have successfully
landed on the moon: U.S., Russia, China and India.

Last month, India landed a spacecraft near the moon's south pole. That
came just days after Russia failed in its attempt to return to the moon
for the first time in nearly a half century. A Japanese private company,
called ispace, crashed a lander in trying to land on the moon in April.

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Japan’s space program has been marred by recent failures. In February,
the H3 rocket launch was aborted for a glitch. Liftoff a month later
succeeded, but the rocket had to be destroyed after its second stage
failed to ignite properly.

Japan has started recruiting astronaut candidates for the first time in
13 years, making clear its ambitions to send a Japanese person to the moon.

Going to the moon has fascinated humankind for decades. Under the U.S.
Apollo program, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the
moon in 1969.

The last NASA human mission to the moon was in 1972, and the focus on
sending humans to the moon appeared to wane, with missions being
relegated to robots.

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