Japan joins an elite club by landing on the moon: A closer look
By FOSTER KLUG
Associated Press
TOKYO (AP) — Japan hopes that it made the world’s first “pinpoint landing” on the moon when its spacecraft touched down on the lunar surface. But Japanese space officials say that more time is needed to make a final determination. Whatever the result on how accurate the landing was Japan’s feat of making it to the moon joined a modern push for lunar contact with roots in the Cold War-era space race between the United States and the Soviet Union. Japan hopes that landing on the moon will mean international scientific and diplomatic accolades and potential domestic political gains.
