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
OMG. When I first saw your post here Robert I assumed it was a Photoshop creation by a cSer. 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 Robert's 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'.
MarylandSpace Member
Posts: 1336 From: Registered: Aug 2002
posted 11-14-2007 12:44 PM
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 1920x1080, 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?
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 + 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.
posted 09-13-2007 10:52 PM
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