NASA Moon mission: Japan sends world’s smallest moon-lander Omotenashi to space – Times of India
NASA successfully conducted the inaugural test flight of the Artemis 1 lunar mission in its third attempt today (November 16). The rocket launched by the US space agency carries an uncrewed Orion spacecraft that is expected to orbit the Moon for several days before returning to the Earth on December 11. Apart from the Orion spacecraft, the US rocket also carried some other probes and satellites developed by different space agencies around the world.
Omotenashi CubeSat: World’s smallest moon lander
According to a report by Kyodo News, the rocket also carried the world’s smallest moon lander, ‘Omotenashi’ which is made by Japan’s space agency, JAXA. ‘Omotenashi’ is expected to help JAXA soft-land a probe on the lunar surface for the first time. The cubical satellite will also travel to deep space with ‘Equuleus,’ which will carry a Japanese nanosatellite designed to study the far side of the Moon.
The Omotenashi stands for “Outstanding MOon exploration TEchnologies demonstrated by NAno Semi-Hard Impactor” and the craft is 11 centimetres long, 24 cm wide and 37 cm high. This craft is one of the secondary payloads of the Artemis I mission test flight and is set to land on the Moon’s surface at 180 kilometres per hour.
The nanosatellite onboard the craft will be protected by shock absorbers and resin, JAXA has predicted that there is a 60% possibility of the craft successfully transmitting radio waves to Earth on reaching the lunar surface
‘Equuleus’ carrying nanosatellite
Equuleus stands for “EQUilibriUm Lunar-Earth point 6U Spacecraft” which will carry a nanosatellite that will study the far side of the Moon. The spacecraft is expected to reach Lagrange Point 2 which is an Earth-Moon orbit position.
This is a point between the orbits of the Earth and the Moon where the gravitational pull of the two bodies equals the centripetal force required for small-mass objects to move with them. JAXA believes that this orbital point can become an optimal base for advanced space development.
Omotenashi CubeSat: World’s smallest moon lander
According to a report by Kyodo News, the rocket also carried the world’s smallest moon lander, ‘Omotenashi’ which is made by Japan’s space agency, JAXA. ‘Omotenashi’ is expected to help JAXA soft-land a probe on the lunar surface for the first time. The cubical satellite will also travel to deep space with ‘Equuleus,’ which will carry a Japanese nanosatellite designed to study the far side of the Moon.
The Omotenashi stands for “Outstanding MOon exploration TEchnologies demonstrated by NAno Semi-Hard Impactor” and the craft is 11 centimetres long, 24 cm wide and 37 cm high. This craft is one of the secondary payloads of the Artemis I mission test flight and is set to land on the Moon’s surface at 180 kilometres per hour.
The nanosatellite onboard the craft will be protected by shock absorbers and resin, JAXA has predicted that there is a 60% possibility of the craft successfully transmitting radio waves to Earth on reaching the lunar surface
‘Equuleus’ carrying nanosatellite
Equuleus stands for “EQUilibriUm Lunar-Earth point 6U Spacecraft” which will carry a nanosatellite that will study the far side of the Moon. The spacecraft is expected to reach Lagrange Point 2 which is an Earth-Moon orbit position.
This is a point between the orbits of the Earth and the Moon where the gravitational pull of the two bodies equals the centripetal force required for small-mass objects to move with them. JAXA believes that this orbital point can become an optimal base for advanced space development.
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