JAXA's SLIM rover lands on the Moon (artist's concept)
Japan will become the fourth country on Earth to land a probe on the Moon when its unmanned rover touches down on the lunar surface in 2018.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said its Moon landing will be a prelude to future robotic and manned missions to Mars.
JAXA said its robotic probe, the "Smart Lander for Investigating Moon" or SLIM will be capable of landing with 100 meters of its targeted landing site compared to other probes from the United States, Russia and China that landed at least one kilometer away from where they were supposed to land.
The SLIM mission will be used to perfect soft-landing technologies that can be used in future, manned expeditions to the Moon and Mars. SLIM will use special face recognition software found in digital cameras to recognize craters on the surface. Bu using this software, SLIM will land at a site devoid of rocks and other dangerous obstacles.
The SLIM Moon mission is expected to cost from US$83.4 million to US$125 million.
JAXA plans to land SLIM on a crater discovered by its Kaguya moon probe, also known as SELENE, the second Japanese lunar orbiter spacecraft to reach the Moon. Kaguya accomplished this feat in September 2007.
JAXA is also considering extra tasks for SLIM other than demonstrating its capability to land accurately at a targeted site.
Japan's Basic Plan for Space Policy commits the country to launch five small unmanned space probes in the coming decade. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology will request funds for the Moon program in the budget for next fiscal year.
Japan will also launch a probe to the Martian moons, Phobos and Deimos. This probe will return to Earth after collecting soil and rock samples.
