2024-01-19 09:11:05
Published19. January 2024, 10:11
Space: The Star Wars module of the Japanese lunar mission
This little exploration robot, resembling the BB-8 droid from the saga, was developed by the creators of Transformers.
SORA-Q includes two cameras, one that emerges at the front when its metal shell opens in two, and a second at the rear. Once the sphere is open, its two ends serve as wheels.
AFP
The Japanese space module scheduled to land on the Moon this Friday, January 19, carries an atypical instrument: a spherical robot reminiscent of a “Star Wars” droid, which unfolds like a transformable toy and moves a bit like a sea turtle.
The fate of this mini-exploring probe hangs on that of its transporter, SLIM (Smart Lander for Investigating Moon), a small machine that the Japanese space exploration agency Jaxa intends to land with a high degree of precision on Saturday shortly following midnight Japanese time, Friday around 2 p.m. in Switzerland.
A success of this mission, nicknamed “Moon Sniper” by Jaxa, the Japanese space agency, would be historic for the country, which would become the fifth to succeed in landing on the Moon, following the United States, the USSR, China and India.
Barely larger than a tennis ball and weighing only 250 grams, SORA-Q, SLIM’s exploratory probe, was co-developed by Jaxa and Takara Tomy, a large Japanese toy manufacturer behind the famous Transformers robots. » launched in 1984. The Japanese electronics giant Sony and the private Japanese Doshisha University in Kyoto also contributed to its development.
A marvel of technology
SORA-Q includes two cameras, one that emerges at the front when its metal shell opens in two, and a second at the rear. Once the sphere is open, its two ends serve as wheels to move in a rocking manner on an uneven surface.
“This transformable, ultra-compact and ultra-light mechanism was created using the technical know-how of toy development,” it is explained on the official SORA-Q website. The probe has two modes of movement: the “butterfly”, where its two wheels roll in concert, and the “crawl”, where they move forward out of sync.
A toy version on the market
“Sora” means “universe” in Japanese, while the letter Q refers to the words “question” and “quest,” the probe’s designers explain. Its cameras should transmit precious images of Shioli, the small crater where SLIM is due to land, and on which rocks emanating from the internal structure of the Moon, which is still poorly understood, are exposed.
And for its fans on Earth, a toy version of the probe exists commercially: costing more than 21,000 yen (120 francs), it can roll and take photos at ground level, of cats or babies for example, according to a promotional video.
A very delicate moon landing
The Japanese space module will attempt to land on the Moon with unequaled precision. The descent should last approximately 20 minutes. The unmanned module, 2.4 m long, 1.7 m wide and 2.7 m high, must not only land on the moon, but also land within a radius of 100 meters from its target, a radius considered as a high degree of precision. Hence his nickname “Moon Sniper”.
It is common for lunar vehicles to land several kilometers from their target, which can complicate their exploration missions. And landing on the Moon is more difficult than landing on asteroids, because gravity on the Moon is stronger than on small celestial bodies.
But achieving this feat is “exceptionally technologically difficult.” “There is usually only one chance, so the slightest mistake can result in failure of a mission,” she warns.
(afp)
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