The Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) is a Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) mission designed to demonstrate accurate lunar landing techniques by a small explorer, with the objective of accelerating the study of the Moon and planets using lighter exploration systems.

The techniques demonstrated by this mission will pave the way for future lunar sample return missions.

SLIM is an irregularly shaped cuboid 2.4 meters in height, 2.7 meters across, and 1.7 meters deep, with a dry mass of 190 kg and a fully loaded mass of 590 kg. The body is built around the propellant tank as the structural element. Power is provided by thin-film solar cells and lithium-ion batteries.

SLIM will carry a landing radar for the final descent and a multiband camera for mineralogical exploration of the surface, as well as a small laser retroreflector array.

The landing system uses a crushable aluminum foam base to absorb impact. The propulsion system comprises two 500 N ceramic engines for orbit maneuvers and twelve 22 N thrusters for attitude control. All engines and thrusters use hydrazine (N2H4)/ nitrogen tetroxide (NTO - MON-3) bipropellant, stored in a common tank separated by a bulkhead.

Credit: NASA

A new satellite called XRISM (X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission, pronounced “crism”) aims to pry apart high-energy light into the equivalent of an X-ray rainbow. The mission, led by JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), will do this using an instrument called Resolve.

Resolve is an X-ray microcalorimeter spectrometer instrument collaboration between NASA and JAXA. It measures tiny temperature changes created when an X-ray hits its 6-by-6-pixel detector. To measure that minuscule increase and determine the X-ray’s energy, the detector needs to cool down to around minus 460 Fahrenheit (minus 270 Celsius), just a fraction of a degree above absolute zero.

The instrument reaches its operating temperature after a multistage mechanical cooling process inside a refrigerator-sized container of liquid helium.

By collecting thousands or even millions of X-rays from a cosmic source, Resolve can measure the high-resolution spectra of the object. Spectra are measurements of light’s intensity over a range of energies. Prisms spread visible light into their different energies, which we know better as the colors of the rainbow.

Scientists used prisms in early spectrometers to look for spectral lines, which occur when atoms or molecules absorb or emit energy.

Now astronomers use spectrometers, tuned to all kinds of light, to learn about cosmic objects’ physical states, motions, and compositions. Resolve will do spectroscopy for X-rays with energies ranging from 400 to 12,000 electron volts by measuring the energies of individual X-rays to form a spectrum. (For comparison, visible light energies range from about 2 to 3 electron volts.)

The mission’s other instrument, developed by JAXA, is called Xtend. It will give XRISM one of the largest fields of view of any X-ray imaging satellite flown to date, observing an area about 60% larger than the average apparent size of the full Moon.

Resolve and Xtend rely on two identical X-ray Mirror Assemblies developed at Goddard.

XRISM is a collaborative mission between JAXA and NASA, with participation by ESA (European Space Agency). NASA’s contribution includes science participation from the Canadian Space Agency.

Credit: NASA

The H-IIA Launch Vehicle is a high-performance Japanese rocket consisting of a first stage, second stage, payload fairing, and either two or four Solid Rocket Boosters (SRB-A). The propulsion system uses liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen as propellants. Two models are in operation: the H-IIA 202 with two SRB-As and the H-IIA 204 with four SRB-As.

Specs
Height: 53 m (174 ft)

Diameter: 4 m (13 ft)

Mass: 285,000–445,000 kg (628,000–981,000 lb)

Stages: 2

The first stage is powered by the high-performance LE-7A engine and includes an engine section, cryogenic propellant tanks, a center fuselage, and an interstage connecting it to the second stage. SRB-As, developed to enhance lift-off thrust, are mounted on the first stage depending on mission needs.

The second stage uses the reliable LE-5B engine and features its own cryogenic tanks, avionics, and other systems. A key capability of the LE-5B is that it can be restarted up to three times, allowing for precise orbital insertions during complex missions.

Courtesy of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

LA-Y1 is a launch pad at Japan’s Tanegashima Space Center, specifically located within the Yoshinobu Launch Complex. It serves as the primary launch site for Japan’s H-II and H-IIA rockets, which are used for deploying satellites into low Earth orbit (LEO) and geostationary transfer orbit (GTO).

The Yoshinobu Launch Complex, which includes both LA-Y1 and the adjacent LA-Y2 pad, is situated on the northern side of Tanegashima Space Center. Rockets are assembled vertically in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) before being transported to the launch pad on a mobile platform. The journey from the VAB to LA-Y1 takes approximately 30 minutes.

LA-Y1 has been operational since its first launch in February 1994 and has hosted numerous missions, including the deployment of Japan’s Akatsuki and Hayabusa2 missions, as well as the Emirates Mars Mission. The pad is equipped to handle the H-IIA's first-stage engine, the LE-7A, and is supported by facilities such as the Takesaki Range Control Center, which manages launch operations and tracking.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.