June 10th looks like the expected impact date for Kaguya at the moment. No word yet on the exact time or location, but it is supposed to be a nearside impact.

Phil

Some incredible new images from Kaguya on its website:

http://wms.selene.jaxa.jp/selene_viewer/jp...31/tc_031_l.jpg

and

http://wms.selene.jaxa.jp/selene_viewer/jp.../tc_031_1_l.jpg

This is at 58 north, 161 east. The big subdued crater that fills most of the large image is called Yamamoto. The data are supposed to be opened to public access 12 months after the end of the primary mission, i.e. this November. The Terrain camera ia an amazing instrument, and it has given nearly global coverage, as I understand it.

Phil

Unfortunately, there are no scale bars on these pictures. For a rough scale, Yamamoto is 76 km in diameter (from the Japanese text translated by Google).
One interesting thing in these images is the abundance of small very fresh-looking craters. It would be quite instructive to compare two images of this area taken a year or two apart. Maybe we could deduct a rough estimate of the impact rate.

The idea of comparing old and new images to evaluate impact rates is a good one, and it will be tried by LRO - but not over a year or two, over 40 years or more between Apollo or Lunar Orbiter images and the new LROC images. The process could be done equally well with Kaguya or Chandrayaan images and the older data as well, for craters 10-20 m or so across, but with LRO it can be extended to craters 1-2 m across.

Interesting to reflect that LROC Narrow Angle images will be 20 times the resolution of Kaguya TC primary mission images.

Phil

I have observed the skin of the lunar surface.

Most area of lunar surface is smooth except to some place, specially, the ones with slopes, the surface shows rougher, some type of vertical or horizontal layers.

Knowing that Moon has no atmosphere which might cause some irregularities of surface, how can some places show some rougher surface?

Roughness on Earth's surface is not caused only by air or water erosion. Meteorite impacts, volcanic eruptions and fracturing of the crust can also shape the surface. Those processes (especially the first) make the lunar surface rough in places.

Phil

An expected impact location for Kaguya has now been announced:

http://www.selene.jaxa.jp/en/communication...ar_Impact_e.htm

This may be revised before the impact.

Last year I had a chance to visit Tsukuba Space Center, Japan and saw a full scale model of Kaguya with my own eyes. It's so big yet the HD movie of the Moon seems so close.

It's sad to hear the end of Kaguya, Didn't they bring enough fuel for an extended mission?

No - they just left it behind.

We've already had an extended mission - we're in it right now.

It would be desirable to know what are the reasons of impact selection place.

I presume that the Kaguya has no control since it has no fuel to maneuver the selection of impact site. I am still insure of that.

The site is chosen to be on the near side where it can be observed, in darkness so it can be observed in infrared, and near the latitude of perilune, whatever that is at the date of impact. There would be a bit of freedom to change that but not much. This is pretty much exactly the same situation as for SMART-1 a few years ago. The chinese Chang-E 1 was also deliberately crashed, but in daylight. That may have been done to prevent an unintentional impact on an Apollo site, given the latitude of perilune.

Phil

Update from JAXA on the Kaguya impact. It's now expected to happen 60 km further north than the previous location, at 61 north, 80 east.

Phil

It would be wonderful if Kaguya is able to activate the TV camera during its last orbits before the impact. The movie image would be thrilling.

It would be nice to see some video coverage of the crash, however, will the orbiter have enough power to do so by June 10, and if so, which of the cameras -- TC (Terrain Camera) and the HDTV (High Definition TeleVision) -- would/could be used?

What about the VRAD satellite, OUNA, -- is there any intention to crash that also? The Relay satellite, OKINA, was intentionally crashed last February, so I'm assuming the same will happen with OUNA, whose elliptical orbit 100 x 800 km, I think, is lower than was OKINA's (the two satellites working together were used for gravitational measurements).

John
http://www.moonposter.ie

The impact will be on the night side of the terminator, making the impact flash easier to see, but the descent video rather boring.

Okina was not intentionally crashed, it had no thrusters and just crashed when its orbit evolved until it hit the surface. Ouna is the same, and current projections suggest its orbit is stable for a decade.

Phil