SELENE

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Template:Short description Script error: No such module "about". Template:Use mdy dates Template:Expand Japanese Template:Infobox spaceflight SELENE (Template:IPAc-en; Selenological and Engineering Explorer), better known in Japan by its nickname Script error: No such module "Nihongo"., was the second Japanese lunar orbiter spacecraft following the Hiten probe.[1] Produced by the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) and the National Space Development Agency (NASDA), the spacecraft was launched on September 14, 2007. After orbiting the Moon for a year and eight months, the main orbiter was instructed to impact on the lunar surface near the crater Gill on June 10, 2009.[2]

Nickname

File:Japanese Fairy Book - Ozaki - P118.png
"The Receding Princess" from The Japanese Fairy Book, 1908

The orbiter's nickname, Kaguya, was selected by the general public. It comes from the name of a lunar princess in the ancient Japanese folktale The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter.[3] After their successful release, its sub-satellites, Rstar and Vstar, were named Okina and Ouna, also derived from characters in the tale.[4]

Mission objectives

The main scientific objectives of the mission were to:

Launch

File:H-IIA F13 launching KAGUYA.jpg
Launch of H-IIA F13 carrying SELENE (Photo by Narita Masahiro)

SELENE launched on September 14, 2007, at 01:31:01 UTC on an H-IIA (Model H2A2022) carrier rocket from Tanegashima Space Center into a Script error: No such module "convert". (perigee) / Script error: No such module "convert". (apogee) geocentric parking orbit.[5][6] The total launch mass was Script error: No such module "convert"..[7][8]

The SELENE mission was originally scheduled to launch in 2003, but rocket failures on another mission and technical difficulties delayed the launch until 2007.[9] Launch was planned for August 16, 2007, but was postponed when some electronic components were found to be installed incorrectly.[10]

Lunar operations

On October 3, it entered an initial Script error: No such module "convert". polar lunar orbit.[11] On October 9, the relay satellite was released into a Script error: No such module "convert". orbit, while on October 12 the VLBI satellite was released into a Script error: No such module "convert". one.[4] Finally, by October 19, the orbiter was in a circular Script error: No such module "convert". orbit.[12] The nominal mission duration was one year plus possible extensions.

On October 31, 2007, Kaguya deployed its Lunar Magnetometer, Lunar Radar Sounder, Earth-looking Upper Atmosphere and Plasma Imager. On December 21, 2007, Kaguya began regular operations after all fifteen observation experiments had been satisfactorily verified.

Kaguya completed the planned operation by the end of October 2008 and began extended operations planned to continue through March 2009. It would then be sent into a circular Script error: No such module "convert". orbit, and finally to an elliptical Script error: No such module "convert". one, with a controlled impact occurring by August 2009.[13] Because of a degraded reaction wheel, the plan was changed so that on February 1, 2009, the orbit was lowered to Script error: No such module "convert". ± Script error: No such module "convert".,[14] and impact with lunar surface occurred at 18:25 UTC on June 10, 2009.[2]

Design

The mission featured three separate spacecraft:

Main orbiter

Source:[7]

  • Shape: octagonal prism
  • Mass: Script error: No such module "convert".
  • Size: 2.1 x 2.1 x 4.8 m (6.9 x 6.9 x 16 ft)
  • Attitude control: Three-axis stabilized
  • Power: 3.5 kW (Max.)
  • Mission period: 1 year
  • Mission orbit: Circular, Script error: No such module "convert".
  • Inclination: 90 degrees

Okina (small relay satellite)

Okina (formerly Rstar) and Ouna (formerly Vstar) were octagonal prisms to support radio science. Okina relayed radio communications between the orbiter and the Earth when the orbiter was behind the Moon. This allowed, for the first time, the direct Doppler shift measurements needed to precisely map the gravitational field of the lunar farside; previously, the farside gravity field could only be inferred by nearside measurements. The relay satellite impacted the lunar farside near the Mineur D crater at 19:46 JST (10:46 UTC) on February 12, 2009.[14]

  • Function: two-way radio science relay, orbiter-earth
  • Mass: Script error: No such module "convert".[7]
  • Size: 1.0 x 1.0 x 0.65 m (3.3 x 3.3 x 2.1 ft)
  • Attitude control: spin-stabilized
  • Power: 70 W
  • Initial orbit: Script error: No such module "convert".
  • Inclination: 90 degrees

Ouna (VLBI satellite)

Ouna used Very Long Baseline Interferometry as a second way to map the Moon's gravity field. It was especially useful at the lunar limb, where the gravitational acceleration is perpendicular to the line of sight to Earth, making Doppler measurements unsuitable.

  • Function: VLBI radio science
  • Mass: Script error: No such module "convert".
  • Size: 1.0 x 1.0 x 0.65 m (3.3 x 3.3 x 2.1 ft)
  • Attitude control: spin-stabilized
  • Power: 70 W
  • Initial orbit: Script error: No such module "convert".
  • Inclination: 90 degrees

Instruments

File:Earth at 11000 km.jpg
First optical still captured by the onboard HDTV camera. Earth is seen at a distance of 11,000 km.[15]

SELENE carried 13 scientific instruments "to obtain scientific data of the lunar origin and evolution and to develop the technology for the future lunar exploration":[16]

  • Terrain camera (TC) (resolution 10 meters [33 ft] per pixel)[17]
  • X-ray fluorescence spectrometer (XRS)
  • Lunar magnetometer (LMAG)
  • Spectral profiler (SP) (resolution per pixel: 562 x 400 m [1840 x 1310 ft)
  • Multi-band imager (MI) (resolution of visible light 20 [66 ft] meters per pixel, near-infrared 62 meters [200 ft] per pixel)
  • Laser altimeter (LALT)
  • Lunar radar sounder (LRS)
  • Gamma ray spectrometer (GRS)
  • Charged particle spectrometer (CPS)
  • Plasma analyzer (PACE)
  • Upper atmosphere and plasma imager (UPI)
  • Radio wave repeater (RSAT) aboard Okina
  • Radio wave source for VLBI (VRAD) aboard Okina and Ouna

Two 2.2 megapixel CCD HDTV cameras, one wide-angle and one telephoto, were also on board, primarily for public outreach.[18] The HDTV system, developed by NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation), produced over 1.3 TB of video and stills over 19 months.[19]

JAXA collected names and messages that were carried on SELENE through their "Wish Upon the Moon" campaign.[20] 412,627 names and messages were printed on a sheet measuring 280 mm x 160 mm (11 x 6.3 in) at 70 μm (0.0003 in) per character. The sheet was installed under the photovoltaic modules and cooling panels beneath the multi-layered insulation.[21]

Results

Major results include:

  • Improved lunar global topography maps.[22] This detailed altitude and geological data was provided to Google for free to make Google Moon 3-D.
  • Detailed gravity map of the far side of the Moon.[23]
  • First optical observation of the permanently shadowed interior of the crater Shackleton at the lunar south pole.[24]
  • Evidence of Earth's oxygen being transported to the Moon via magnetospheric ions.[25]

Other lunar probes

SELENE was part of a renewed global interest in lunar exploration; it was "the largest lunar mission since the Apollo program".[26] It followed Japan's first lunar probe, Hagoromo, launched in 1990.[1][27] China launched its Chang'e 1 lunar explorer on October 24, 2007, followed by India's October 22, 2008 launch of Chandrayaan-1 and the United States Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter in June 2009. The United States, European countries (ESA), Russia, Japan, India and China are planning future crewed lunar exploration missions or lunar outpost construction on the Moon between 2018 and 2025.[28]

See also

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References

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  2. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  3. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  4. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  5. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  6. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  7. ↑ a b c Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  8. ↑ Cite error: Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".
  9. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  10. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  11. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  12. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  13. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  14. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  15. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  16. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  17. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  18. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  19. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  20. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  21. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  22. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  23. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  24. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  25. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  26. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  27. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  28. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

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External links

Template:Sister project

Script error: No such module "navbox". Script error: No such module "Navbox". Template:Solar System probes Template:Orbital launches in 2007

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