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Japan Launches Lunar Orbiter Mission

Posted by Zonk on from the bring-us-back-something-nice dept.

Sooner Boomer writes "In a historic event, Japan today launched its first lunar probe. The mission is nicknamed Kaguya after a fairy-tale princess from Japanese myth. The news media is calling it the 'latest move in a new race with China, India and the United States' to explore the moon (don't forget Google). From the article: 'The rocket carrying the three-metric ton orbiter took off into blue skies, leaving a huge trail of vapor over the tiny island of Tanegashima, about 1,000 km (620 miles) south of Tokyo, at 10:31 a.m. (9:31 p.m. EDT) as it headed out over the Pacific Ocean. The mission consists of a main orbiter and two baby satellites equipped with 14 observation instruments designed to examine surface terrain, gravity and other features for clues on the origin and evolution of the moon. China has plans to launch an orbiter later this year, with unmanned rover lander mission scheduled for 2010. India and the US also have orbiter missions scheduled for next year.'"

8 of 121 comments (clear)

  1. SELENE by Poromenos1 · · Score: 4, Informative

    Interesting choice of name. Selene was a lunar deity and is the Greek word for the moon.

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  2. What The Article Does Not Say... by RobotRunAmok · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...is that the spacecraft is in the shape of a giant robot, and that, upon achieving lunar orbit, it will disassemble itself into three smaller robots, a moon buggy, a six-wheeler truck, and a mouse-class pokemon carrying a katana.

  3. Re:Thank God! by mdm-adph · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Once these babies are in position, they'll be able to take nice pictures of the Apollo mission sites. ...which he'll probably claim are faked, too. Never underestimate the power of the human mind to ignore blatant proof.
    --
    It is by my will alone my thoughts acquire motion; it is by the juice of the coffee bean that the thoughts acquire speed
  4. If we're going to get picky... by benhocking · · Score: 5, Informative
    Perhaps we should be more concerned with how they misspelled "second" (as "first"). From Red Orbit:

    Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) had previously launched HITEN in 1990, delivering the small lunar orbiter HAGOMORO. Kaguya is said to be the largest lunar mission since NASA's Apollo programme.
    Despite several news services saying this is Japan's first lunar probe, lunar orbiter, etc., it is not. It is the largest one, and the first in over a decade, but it is not it's first.
    --
    Ben Hocking
    Need a professional organizer?
  5. Re:Thank God! by Jeek+Elemental · · Score: 5, Funny

    I bet they find a fake lander.

  6. Re:Thank God! by UbuntuDupe · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The Soviet Union was able to view the landing site with *their* satellites in 1969. If he's not going to be persuaded by the SU's golden chance to embarass the USA if the landings were faked, I don't think this would make a difference.

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    Apology to Ubuntu forum.
  7. Isn't this kinda sad? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Hate to get a weepy and jingoist, but isn't this just kinda pathetic? We sent people there almost 40 years ago, fer Christ's sake, and now we're in a "race" to send orbiters around it?

    We should already have moon-based lasers to shoot down them godless foreign spy satellites before they enter orbit. We should own that goddamned moon, complete with a Disneyland! And blackjack! And hookers!

    In fact, forget the moon!

  8. Upcoming missions ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    This mission is just a warmup. Japan's future plans include a lunar mission in 2022 in which gigantic teflon and mylar sheets will be installed at strategic locations extending upward perpendicular to the surface. Upon completion of the complex in 2024, observers on Earth will see that the moon has been transformed into a giant Hello Kitty.