On Sept. 13, 2007, Japan launched the Kaguya spacecraft on a mission to the moon.
Formally known as SELENE, which is short for SELenological and ENgineering Explorer, it was Japan's second moon mission.
Kaguya launched from Tanegashima Space Center on a Japanese H-2A rocket and looped around the Earth twice before heading to the moon. It carried 14 science instruments and two microsatellites to map the mo on's surface and study its gravitational field.
After a 20-day journey, it arrived in lunar orbit. The mission consisted of three spacecraft: a main orbiter, a small communications satellite, and a third small satellite to map the moon's gravitational field. After about a year of lunar observations, the mission ended with a planned crash landing on the lunar surface.
Formally known as SELENE, which is short for SELenological and ENgineering Explorer, it was Japan's second moon mission.
Kaguya launched from Tanegashima Space Center on a Japanese H-2A rocket and looped around the Earth twice before heading to the moon. It carried 14 science instruments and two microsatellites to map the mo on's surface and study its gravitational field.
After a 20-day journey, it arrived in lunar orbit. The mission consisted of three spacecraft: a main orbiter, a small communications satellite, and a third small satellite to map the moon's gravitational field. After about a year of lunar observations, the mission ended with a planned crash landing on the lunar surface.
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TechTranscript
00:00On this day in space.
00:04In 2007, Japan launched the Kaguya spacecraft on a mission to the moon.
00:08The mission was formerly known as SELENE, which is short for
00:12SELENOLOGICAL AND ENGINEERING EXPLORER. It was Japan's second moon mission.
00:16Kaguya launched from the Tanegashima Space Center on a Japanese H-2A rocket
00:20and looped around the Earth twice before heading to the moon.
00:24It carried 14 science instruments and two microsatellites to map the moon's surface
00:28and its gravitational field. After a 20-day journey, it arrived in lunar orbit.
00:32The mission consisted of three spacecraft, a main orbiter, a small
00:36communications satellite, and a third small satellite to map the moon's gravitational field.
00:40After about a year of lunar observations, the mission ended with a planned crash landing
00:44on the lunar surface. And that's what happened on this day in space.
00:48Music
00:52Music