Have you been following the news about Japan’s recent moon landing saga? Just last Friday, their space probe – Moon Sniper – made a soft landing on the moon.

Japan is only the fifth country in the world to make it to the moon using a space probe. However, hopes for their lunar lander to generate power via solar cells stopped short.

We spoke to the Professor of the School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences at Macquarie University – Dr Richard de Grijs – about this exciting achievement.

Professor de Grijs holds the position of Executive Director at the International Space Science Institute in Beijing. He recently wrote an article about the politics of the race to the moon and what Japan’s space probe event means in aerospace history.