 The mission mark of Kaguya |
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| Organization |  JAXA |
|---|---|
| Mission type | Orbiter |
| Satellite of | Moon |
| Launch date | 01:31:01, 14 September 2007 UTC |
| Launch vehicle | H-IIA |
| COSPAR ID | 2007-039A |
| Home page | SELENE page |
| Mass | 2,914 kg (Main Orbiter, launch mass) |
| Power | 3,486 W |
| Orbital elements | |
| Inclination | 90° |
| Orbital period | 2h |
| Apoapsis | 100 km |
| Periapsis | 100 km |
SELENE (/ˈsɛlini/ Selenological and Engineering Explorer), better known in Japan by its nickname Kaguya (/ˈkɔːguːjɔː/, かぐや), was the second Japanese lunar orbiter spacecraft.[1] Produced by the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science and NASDA (both now part of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, JAXA), the spacecraft was launched September 14, 2007. After successfully orbiting the moon for 1 year and 8 months, the main orbiter was intentionally crashed onto the lunar surface near Gill lunar crater at 18:25 UTC on June 10, 2009.[2]
Selene (Ancient Greek: Σελήνη, moon) is the Greek goddess of the moon. 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 from the folklore.[4]
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The main scientific objectives of the mission were to:
SELENE launched at 01:31:01 UTC on September 14, 2007 on an H-IIA (Model H2A2022) carrier rocket from Tanegashima Space Center into a 281.55 km (perigee) / 232960 km (apogee) geocentric parking orbit.[5] [6] The total launch mass was 3020 kg.[7]
The SELENE mission was originally scheduled to launch in 2003, but rocket failures on another mission and technical difficulties delayed the launch until 2007.[8] Launch was planned for August 16, 2007, but was postponed when some electronic components were found to be installed incorrectly.[9]
On October 3, it entered an initial 101 to 11741 km polar lunar orbit.[10] On October 9, the relay satellite was released into a 100 to 2400 km orbit, and on October 12 the VLBI satellite was released into a 100 to 800 km orbit.[4] Finally, by October 19, the orbiter was in an circular 100 km orbit.[11] 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. The orbit would then be reduced to 50 km circular and finally to 20 km - 100 km elliptical, with a controlled impact occurring by August 2009.[12] Because of a degraded reaction wheel, the plan was changed so that on February 1, 2009, the orbit was lowered to 50 km ± 20 km,[13] and impact occurred at 18:25 UTC on June 10, 2009.[2]
SELENE was part of a renewed global interest in lunar exploration; it was "the largest lunar mission since the Apollo program",[14]. It followed Japan's first lunar probe, Hagoromo, launched in 1990.[1][15] China launched its Chang'e 1 lunar explorer on October 24, 2007, followed by India's 22 October 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 manned lunar exploration missions or Lunar outpost construction on the moon between 2018 and 2025.[16]
The mission featured three separate spacecraft:
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 far side gravity field could only be inferred by near side measurements. The relay satellite impacted the lunar farside near Mineur D crater at 19:46 JST (10:46 UTC) on February 12, 2009.[13]
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.
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":[17]
Two 2.2 megapixel CCD HDTV cameras, one wide-angle and one telephoto, were also on board primarily for public relations purposes.[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 × 160 mm at 70 µm per character. The sheet was installed under the photovoltaic modules and cooling panels beneath the multi-layered insulation.[21]
Major results include:
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Selene is the goddess of the moon and a Titan in Greek mythology. She is the daughter of Hyperion and Theia.[1]
She later became one with the goddess Artemis. In Roman mythology the moon goddess is called Luna, Latin for "moon". The Roman Luna became one with Diana.
Like most moon deities, Selene plays a fairly big role in her pantheon. In the collection of poems called the Homeric hymns, there is a Hymn to Selene (xxxii), used with the hymn to Helios; in it Selene is called "far-winged", a name ordinarily applied to birds. Selene is also talked about in Nonnus, Dionysiaca 48.581; Pausanias 5.1.4; and Strabo 14.1.6,
The etymology of Selene is not known, but if the word is from Greek, it is probably connected to the word selas, meaning "light".[2] Boreion Selas is the Greek name for Aurora Borealis. The word selenology, the study of the geology of the Moon, comes from her name. The chemical element Selenium was also named after Selene.
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In post-Renaissance art, Selene is shown as a beautiful woman with a pale face. She is sometimes riding a silver chariot (cart) pulled by oxen or a pair of horses. Often, she is shown riding a horse or bull, wearing robes and a half-moon on her head and carrying a torch.
In the old pre-Olympian genealogy of the gods, Helios, the sun, is Selene's brother: after her brother, Helios, finishes his trip across the sky, Selene, freshly washed in the waters of the Earth-circling Ocean,[3] begins her own trip as night falls upon the earth, which becomes lit from the light of her head and golden crown[4]. When she is growing after mid-month, it is a "sure token and a sign to mortal men". Her sister, Eos, is goddess of the dawn. Eos also carried off a human lover, Cephalus,[5] which is like a myth of Selene and Endymion.
As a result of Selene becoming one with Artemis, later writers sometimes said Selene was a daughter of Zeus, like Artemis, or of Pallas the Titan. In the Homeric Hymn to Hermes, with its list of people's fathers, she is "bright Selene, daughter of the lord Pallas, Megamedes' son."
Lovers
The Apollonius of Rhodes tells how Selene loved a mortal, the handsome hunter or shepherd—or, in the version Pausanias knew, a king— of Elis, named Endymion, from Asia Minor. He was so beautiful that Selene asked Zeus to grant him eternal sleep, she learned from her sister never to ask for eternal life or be left with a grasshopper in her hands so he would never leave her: her asking permission of Zeus is as an Olympian change to an older myth: Cicero Tusculanae Disputationes recognized that the moon goddess had done it by herself. Another story says Endymion made the decision to live forever in sleep. Every night, Selene went down behind Mount Latmus near MiletusPausanias geographerPausanias . Selene had fifty daughters, the Menae, by Endymion, including Naxos, the nymph of Naxos Island. The protected place of Endymion at Heraclea by Latmus|Heraclea on the southern slope of Latmus is a horseshoe-shaped room with an entrance hall and pillared front court.
Though the story of Endymion is the best-known one today, the Homeric hymn to Selene tells that Selene also had a daughter by Zeus, Pandia, the "utterly shining" full moon. According to some sources, the Nemean Lion was her child as well. She also had a brief relationship with Pan , who seduced her by wrapping himself in a sheepskin and gave her the yoke of white oxen that drew the chariot in which she is shown in sculptures, with her windblown veil above her head like the arching canopy of sky. In the Homeric hymn, her chariot is drawn by long-maned horses.
The Roman moon goddess, Luna, had a temple on the Aventine Hill. It was built in the sixth century BC, but was destroyed in the Great Fire of Rome when Nero was king. There was also a temple to Luna Noctiluca ("Luna that shines by night") on the Palatine Hill. There were parties in honor of Luna on March 31, August 24 and August 29.[6][7]
| Error creating thumbnail: sh: convert: command not found |
   | SELenological and ENgineering Explorer (SELENE) - NASA - NSSDC - Spacecraft - Query Results |
| | SELENE overview - ISAS | Not Found |
| | Theoi.com: Selene - SELENE : Greek goddess of the moon ; mythology ; pictures : SELANA, LUNA |
| | Official project site - KAGUYA (SELENE) - TOP |
| | LISM [TC, MI, SP] - KAGUYA (SELENE) - Mission Instruments - LISM [TC, MI, SP] |
| | Send a New Year's Message to the Moon on Japan's SELENE Mission: Buzz Aldrin, Ray Bradbury and More Have Wished Upon the Moon - MoonWishes - Who We Are | The Planetary Society |
| | Most Popular Female First Names" - Most Common Female First Names in the United States [Alphabetical List] |
| | NASA's Solar System Exploration - Solar System Exploration |
| | SELENE page - ISAS | Not Found |
| | Launch Postponement of the KAGUYA (SELENE) - JAXA | Launch Postponement of the KAGUYA (SELENE) |
| | Japan launches first lunar probe - BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Japan launches first lunar probe |
| | SELENE: The largest lunar mission since the Apollo program - JAXA | SELenological and ENgineering Explorer "KAGUYA" (SELENE) |
| | Hiten - NASA - NSSDC - Spacecraft - Details |
| | Kaguya Rockets Toward the Moon - Kaguya Rockets Toward the Moon - Planetary News | The Planetary Society |
| | SELENE website at JAXA - JAXA | SELenological and ENgineering Explorer "KAGUYA" (SELENE) |
| | KAGUYA (SELENE) Result of the Lunar Orbit Injection Maneuver (LOI1) - Lunar orbit injection was confirmed - - JAXA | KAGUYA (SELENE) Result of the Lunar Orbit Injection Maneuver (LOI1) - Lunar orbit injection was confirmed - |
| | KAGUYA (SELENE) / Result of the Separation of the VRAD Satellite (Vstar) - JAXA | KAGUYA (SELENE) Result of the Separation of the VRAD Satellite (Vstar) |
| | SELENE - Kaguya - Space Wiki |
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