A Japanese spacecraft touted to be the largest aimed at the moon since NASA's Apollo era rocketed into space late Thursday on an ambitious mission to study the origins of Earth's nearest neighbor.
The three-ton Kaguya lunar orbiter rode its H-2A rocket moonward at about 9:31 p.m. EDT (0131 Sept. 13 GMT), though it was Friday morning at Japan's island-based Tanegashima Space Center launch site. The probe was slated to circle the Earth twice before beginning a five-day trek to the moon, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has said.
Formally known as SELENE, short for SELenological and ENgineering Explorer, Kaguya carries 14 science instruments and two small microsatellites to make detailed maps of the moon's surface, probe its interior and study the lunar gravitational field.
spaced out Member
Posts: 3110 From: Paris, France Registered: Aug 2003
posted 09-14-2007 05:43 AM
I was having a look at the website for the Kaguya spacecraft and was very pleased to see that it is carrying an HDTV camera. They mention explicitly that it can be used to film the Earthrise.
I honestly haven't heard much about this probe but I have a feeling that when the first HDTV images of Earthrise from lunar orbit are relayed back from this satellite they are going to become some of the most famous images in recent space history.
Seeing modern HD images of the moon from orbit is going to be amazing, and you can sure they're going to be shown on every news broadcast in the world.
mmmoo Member
Posts: 551 From: London, England Registered: May 2001
posted 10-09-2007 06:06 AM
The JAXA spacecraft has now entered lunar orbit, and sent back the first images. Although the images are not spectacular, they were just taken to monitor the antenna.
Posts: 3307 From: Houston, TX Registered: May 2001
posted 10-09-2007 11:44 AM
Here is a one minute video of Earth taken with Kayuga's HDTV camera while it traveled to the Moon. The online version is not full resolution of course but neat nonetheless.
spaced out Member
Posts: 3110 From: Paris, France Registered: Aug 2003
posted 11-07-2007 05:59 AM
Just noticed that a new video was posted on Oct 30. It starts with about 25 seconds of Japanese text but then shows two fairly long shots of the lunar landscape passing underneath the spacecraft. Takes you back 30+ years!
See the clip here. It's the top one that shows just text (V-044-0017). Sadly it's not in HD.
Scott Member
Posts: 3307 From: Houston, TX Registered: May 2001
This still image was cut out from a moving image (tele shot) taken by the HDTV onboard the KAGUYA at 12:07 p.m. on November 7, 2007 (Japan Standard Time, JST,) then sent to the JAXA Usuda Deep Space Center.
In the image, the Moon's surface is near the South Pole, and we can see the Australian Continent (center left) and the Asian Continent (lower right) on the Earth. (In this image, the upper side of the Earth is the Southern Hemisphere, thus the Australian Continent looks upside-down.)
Scott Member
Posts: 3307 From: Houston, TX Registered: May 2001
posted 11-13-2007 09:15 AM
When I first saw the Earthrise image here I assumed it was a Photoshop creation by a cS'er. But it is real. Amazing. Beautiful.
spaced out Member
Posts: 3110 From: Paris, France Registered: Aug 2003
posted 11-13-2007 09:38 AM
Great stuff, although to be pedantic, the image above is actually of the 'Earth-set' near the South pole.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 42988 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 11-13-2007 09:59 AM
Here's the video of Earth-rise and Earth-set:
For a higher resolution version of the same, see the video link on JAXA's website.
robsouth Member
Posts: 769 From: West Midlands, UK Registered: Jun 2005
posted 11-13-2007 06:37 PM
That is one amazing image, absolutely out of this world!
gliderpilotuk Member
Posts: 3398 From: London, UK Registered: Feb 2002
posted 11-14-2007 02:06 AM
This is inspirational stuff - just like being there. How high is the spacecraft orbiting?
robsouth Member
Posts: 769 From: West Midlands, UK Registered: Jun 2005
posted 11-14-2007 06:16 AM
This is how it should look.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 42988 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 11-14-2007 07:22 AM
quote:Originally posted by gliderpilotuk: How high is the spacecraft orbiting?
According to JAXA, Kaguya is 100 km (62 miles) above the Moon.
spaced out Member
Posts: 3110 From: Paris, France Registered: Aug 2003
posted 11-14-2007 08:02 AM
quote:Originally posted by robsouth: This is how it should look.
In space I guess you can fly in attitude you want so there's no particular reason why the camera/viewer should be feet down when passing over the North pole and head down when passing 'under' the South pole.
I assume 'down' there in Sydney you wouldn't stand on your heads to a polar-orbiting satellite pass over the 'right way up'.
NC Apollo Fan Member
Posts: 261 From: Belmont, NC USA Registered: Jul 2000
posted 11-14-2007 10:36 AM
I just noticed something. This is obviously a poor fake - where are the stars in the sky? Talk about mediocrity - they have made the same mistake that we made three decades ago! When are we all going to get our respective acts together on faking lunar missions?
Tomy1 Member
Posts: 179 From: Cape Canaveral, FL Registered: Mar 2001
posted 11-14-2007 11:26 AM
Hopefully pictures will be taken of all 6 lunar landing sites and the "hoax" will finally be laid to rest!
MarylandSpace Member
Posts: 1336 From: Registered: Aug 2002
posted 11-14-2007 12:44 PM
The chalk dust on my monitor makes it appear that stars are in the image... so, there are stars! (Just kidding.)
The images are just awesome.
cddfspace Member
Posts: 609 From: Morris County, NJ, USA Registered: Jan 2006
posted 11-14-2007 03:15 PM
Awesome! Do they have plans on taking images of the landing sites? At 62 miles away, how close will the views look?
spaced out Member
Posts: 3110 From: Paris, France Registered: Aug 2003
posted 11-14-2007 04:09 PM
I'd be surprised if the cameras have a powerful-enough combination of lenses and resolution to see anything significant at the landing sites but I could be wrong.
In any case I'm sure they will release high-def stills of those area once the probe has passed over them. Still be interesting to see Hadley Rille and the like.
robsouth Member
Posts: 769 From: West Midlands, UK Registered: Jun 2005
posted 11-14-2007 07:37 PM
quote:Originally posted by spaced out: In space I guess you can fly in attitude you want...
...assume 'down' there in Sydney you wouldn't stand on your heads to a polar-orbiting satellite pass over the 'right way up'.
Very true but it's nice to see Australia looking as it should. Sydney is on the East coast afterall!
dsenechal Member
Posts: 539 From: Registered: Dec 2002
posted 11-14-2007 08:19 PM
I have a question (or perhaps an observation) as to HD resolution vs. the old Apollo Hasselblad images. According to the JAXA web site, the Kaguya imager is 1920 x 1080, which would make sense since that's the resolution of full HDTV. So, that's around 2 megapixels. By contrast, the resolution of a Hasselblad image exceeds 30 mp. So, even though the Kaguya images appear spectacular, it would seem that their resolution is still far, far less than the 40-year-old pictures from Apollo (although color accuracy is probably higher). Any thoughts? Dave
spaced out Member
Posts: 3110 From: Paris, France Registered: Aug 2003
posted 11-15-2007 02:08 AM
The high-definition digital images are of course way lower in resolution than Hasselblad stills from the Apollo missions but the comparison should really be with the movie cameras used in orbit.
Philip Member
Posts: 5952 From: Brussels, Belgium Registered: Jan 2001
posted 11-15-2007 09:48 AM
Even more amazing is the fact that these images are coming from a Japanese spacecraft. If in Europe or US, the spaceflight program won't get the attention/funds it needs in the future, the Moon might become an Asian affaire...
Philip Member
Posts: 5952 From: Brussels, Belgium Registered: Jan 2001
posted 11-19-2007 11:49 AM
Both Apollo 15 and 16 landing sites are listed (Word document) as lunar sites to be used in calibrating the Japanese spacecraft instruments!
robsouth Member
Posts: 769 From: West Midlands, UK Registered: Jun 2005
posted 11-19-2007 11:22 PM
Just watched the video for the first time, like someone has already mentioned it's just like being there. That view is breath taking.
Scott Member
Posts: 3307 From: Houston, TX Registered: May 2001
posted 11-21-2007 09:50 AM
A new movie which shows some of the far side has been released.
Around the 30 second mark, Tsiolkovsky Crater appears on the horizon.
Philip Member
Posts: 5952 From: Brussels, Belgium Registered: Jan 2001
posted 11-21-2007 11:06 AM
In 50 years spaceflight, the best images were those taken by Viking on Mars and when we saw those Viking spacecraft from orbit, that was really cool!
Hopefully same deal for Apollo.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 42988 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 05-21-2008 11:34 PM
Kaguya has imaged the Apollo 15 landing site and caught what JAXA's analysts have identified as the stirred up soil from Falcon's engine:
More details (and photos) are published here, but only in Japanese.
Kaguya also photographed the Apollo 11 and Apollo 17 landing sites (this time in English, look under "what's new").
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 42988 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 02-18-2009 10:59 AM
So, you say have seen Earthrise before... and you have seen a total eclipse of the Sun. But have you seen an Earth-rising, total eclipse of the Sun... from the Moon?
Posts: 2331 From: Sturgeon Bay, WI Registered: Jan 2000
posted 02-18-2009 01:30 PM
Awesome.
I assume that is from the very-partial lunar eclipse a couple weeks ago? Can't read that Japanese squiggly stuff.
DChudwin Member
Posts: 1096 From: Lincolnshire IL USA Registered: Aug 2000
posted 06-01-2009 07:49 PM
Here is an animation from Kaguya's laser altimeter which show elevations on the Moon (increased 10-fold). Fascinating!
Max Q Member
Posts: 399 From: Whyalla South Australia Registered: Mar 2007
posted 06-02-2009 03:09 AM
Spell binding.
mmmoo Member
Posts: 551 From: London, England Registered: May 2001
posted 06-02-2009 07:03 AM
Wow, the Earth-rise-total-eclipse is amazing! It's like an intro to a sci-fi movie.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 42988 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 06-10-2009 05:10 PM
JAXA update
KAGUYA dropped onto Moon's surface
The lunar explorer "KAGUYA" was maneuvered to be dropped around 80.4 degrees east longitude and 65.5 degrees south latitude onto the Moon at 3:25 a.m. on June 11 (Japan Standard Time.) The KAGUYA carried out global observations of the Moon for 17 months since its launch on September 14,2007.
We are now asking people all over the world to provide us with images of the collision flash generated when the KAGUYA hits the Moon's surface, if someone successfully captures this feat.
The KAGUYA's observation data will be released through the Internet from Nov. 1.
Leonard David with the Coalition for Space Exploration reports that "the impact... was successfully observed from Earth by researchers at the Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT). A bright impact flash was seen close to the predicted time."
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 42988 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
An Australian telescope observed the controlled crash of Japan's Kaguya lunar probe into the moon Wednesday, an important warm-up act before a NASA impactor attempts a similar feat in October with much higher stakes.
posted 09-13-2007 10:52 PM
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