Watch: Japan’s ‘moon sniper’ team hold press conference after lunar landing attempt
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Your support makes all the difference.Watch as JAXA, the Japanese space agency, hold a press conference following Japan’s ‘moon sniper’ attempting a historic lunar landing.
The spacecraft appeared to have landed on the Moon, but the space agency were unable to immediately confirm if it had done so safely. abruptly ending the live coverage.
A press conference is scheduled to begin at 02:10am JST.
Japan hoped to make the world’s first “pinpoint landing” on the moon early Saturday (20 January), joining a modern push for lunar contact with roots in the Cold War-era space race between the United States and the Soviet Union.
Japan’s attempt to bring down its lander at a precise location followed the April failure of a Japanese company’s spacecraft that apparently crashed while attempting to land on the moon.
As Japan and others look to enter a club so far occupied by only the United States, the Soviet Union, India and China, victory means international scientific and diplomatic accolades and potential domestic political gains.
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