Japan's 'Moon Sniper' attempts historic lunar landing

TOKYO - Japan's "Moon Sniper" spacecraft is preparing to make a historic lunar touchdown at midnight on Saturday using pinpoint technology the country hopes will lead to success where many have failed.

With its Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) mission, Japan wants to become the fifth nation to pull off a fiendishly tricky soft landing on the Moon's rocky surface.

Only the United States, the Soviet Union, China and India have accomplished the feat so far.

But the Japanese lander -- equipped with a rolling probe developed by a major toy company -- has been designed to do so with unprecedented precision.

The descent of the lightweight SLIM craft, nicknamed the "Moon Sniper" by space agency JAXA, is scheduled to start at midnight Japan time (1500 GMT Friday).

If all goes to plan, the touchdown will take place around 20 minutes later.

The craft is targeting an area within 100 metres of a spot on the surface, far tighter than the usual landing zone of several kilometres.

Success would reverse Japan's fortunes in space after two failed lunar missions and recent rocket failures, including explosions after take-off.

It would also echo the triumph of India's low-cost space programme in August, when the country became the first to land an uncrewed craft near the Moon's largely unexplored south pole.

A safe landing for SLIM is "a very big deal", said Emily Brunsden, senior lecturer in astrophysics and director of the University of York's Astrocampus.

"The 'sniper' landing precision is a huge leap in technology that will allow missions to be designed to target much more specific research questions," she told AFP.

But the task remains "exceptionally technologically challenging", Brunsden warned.

"Usually there is only one chance to do it right, so the smallest of errors can cause a mission to fail."