Kaguya (SELENE)
Kaguya (SELENE) — JAXA's lunar orbiter, launched on 14 September 2007 (UTC). From a polar orbit about 100 km up it mapped the Moon's shape, chemistry and gravity. Its small relay satellite, Okina, let it track the gravity of the far side, which never faces Earth, and its high-definition camera filmed the first high-definition Earthrise. It was flown into the Moon near the crater Gill on 10 June 2009 (UTC). (Its orbit is drawn to its published height; its position on it is representative.)
Key facts
Mission & specifications
Mission
- Operator
- JAXA
- Launched
- September 14, 2007
- Status
- Completed
Trajectory
- Distance from the Sun
- 1 AU
- Computed from the cached position
- Distance from Earth
- 0.345 AU
- Computed from cached positions
- Distance from Venus
- 0.376 AU
- Computed from cached positions
Mission
Kaguya, named SELENE (the SELenological and ENgineering Explorer) before launch, was launched on an H-IIA rocket from Tanegashima on 14 September 2007 (UTC). It entered lunar orbit on 3 October and released two small satellites into higher orbits: Okina, which relayed its radio signal when Kaguya was behind the Moon, and Ouna, a radio source for tracking from Earth. By 19 October Kaguya itself was in a polar orbit about 100 km up. Its instruments measured the Moon's shape with a laser altimeter, which found a difference of about 19.8 km between the highest and lowest points, and mapped the elements and minerals of the surface. Through Okina, Kaguya's motion could be followed over the far side, which never faces Earth, and so the gravity of the far side was mapped directly for the first time. Its high-definition television camera, built with the Japanese broadcaster NHK, filmed the first high-definition Earthrise in November 2007, and in February 2009 an eclipse of the Sun by Earth. Okina struck the far side on 12 February 2009 (UTC). In its last months Kaguya flew lower, at 50 km and then as low as 10 to 30 km, and on 10 June 2009 at 18:25 UTC it was flown into the Moon at 65.5°S, 80.4°E, near the crater Gill. Ouna was last commanded on 29 June 2009; it is assumed to have crashed at an unknown time and place.
- 2007Kaguya launches toward the Moon on an H-IIA rocketLaunch
From Tanegashima Space Center.
- 2007Into lunar orbitArrival
Its first orbit around the Moon takes 16 hours 42 minutes.
- 2007Okina releasedMilestone
The relay satellite that lets Kaguya be tracked over the far side.
- 2007The first high-definition EarthriseMilestone
Filmed by the camera built with the broadcaster NHK.
- 2009Okina strikes the far sideMilestone
Its relay work done.
- 2009Kaguya is flown into the MoonMission end
At 65.5°S, 80.4°E, near the crater Gill.
Images
Images from open archives · credit shown per image