Japan launches rocket, moon lander to study origins of the universe as global space race intensifies

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 said.

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.

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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 will not 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.

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India’s Chandrayaan-3 rover completes moon walk, put in ‘sleep mode’

India’s Chandrayaan-3 rover completes moon walk, put in ‘sleep mode’

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 metres (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.

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

Going to the moon has fascinated humankind for decades. Under the US Apollo programme, 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.