The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) successfully launched the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) on Thursday.
The rocket, which was launched at 8:42 am local time (23:42 GMT Wednesday) from the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima, is carrying an X-ray telescope that will explore the origins of the universe as well as SLIM.
The Japanese space agency is leading the mission in collaboration with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The European Space Agency contributed to the telescope’s construction, which means that European astronomers will be allocated a portion of the telescope’s observing time.
Following the successful launch, ISRO wrote, “Congratulations @JAXA_en on the successful launch of the SLIM lander to the moon. Best wishes for another successful lunar endeavor by the global space community.”
NASA also congratulated JAXA and wrote, “This new X-ray observatory will help us study exploding stars, black holes, and more.”
Recently, ISRO’s ambitious third Moon mission, the Lander Module (LM) of Chandrayaan 3, landed on the lunar surface. Later, the Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscope instrument onboard the ‘Pragyan’ rover of Chandrayaan-3 unambiguously confirmed the presence of sulfur on the lunar surface near the south pole.
Apart from sulfur, the rover has found the presence of oxygen, aluminum, and other materials near the lunar south pole.
With inputs from agencies
