KAGUYA lunar explorer (aka SELENE) Options

[PhilHorzempa]

We are now about 5 days away from LOI for Kaguya. I want to note
that we are in the last few days of an historic period - a time when
there are no active man-made devices operating on, or near, the Moon.
Once Kaguya enters lunar orbit, I believe that we will be starting an era
when there will ALWAYS be a functioning representative of mankind at
the Moon, either manned or unmanned. We are about to enter a new epoch,
one in which mankind has a permanent presence at the Moon. Unless something
drastic occurs, I foresee no gaps in this lunar presence for the next several
centuries, perhaps for the next several millenia.

It all starts in a few days.

Another Phil

[nprev]

...terrific sentiment. I hope it's true.

[SpaceListener]

Would like to know about how fast will Kaguya be approaching to the Moon at the LOI point. How long will the engines be firing during the orbit injection?

[jabe]

We are about to enter a new epoch, one in which mankind has a permanent presence at the Moon.

What i find amazing is that this can be said for Mars as well, and that started quietly 10 years ago!! I never thought that Surveyor back in '96 would be the start of a continous presence at Mars. If we don't have a rover/satellite/weather station/lander/ etc on Mars running at any one time or another I'd be dissappointed. It is a remarkable time. I teach high school physics and just before the first ISS crew went up I mentioned to my classes that this could be the last time that humans are NOT up in space. I don't think they appreciated what that could mean for them..

I hope that with the Moon being a more "realistic" target, it will get the general public more intrigued and realize that times are changing..how much so we will see... As well This doesn't take into account private space tourism.. Virgin galatic, bigelow etc..

Can't wait for the HD pics to come down of earth rise
Go SELENE!!!
jb

[Phil Stooke]

http://www.jaxa.jp/countdown/f13/index_e.html

Orbit adjustment on the second orbit.

Phil

[cndwrld]

Pronouncing it

I was at the IAC conference in Hyderabad, India last week. They had good presentations on Kaguya, and I'm really looking forward to it.

I learned that I was pronouncing it wrong. We were told by a JAXA person that it is pronounced KA-gu-ya, not ka-GU-ya.

Apparently, ka-GU-ya means 'furniture store.'

There's a funny joke in there somewhere.

[SkyeLab]

Quote:
"Apparently, ka-GU-ya means 'furniture store.'

There's a funny joke in there somewhere."


Because it will be a treat for all us arm-chair space scientists?..........

or

Sofa so good for Japanese Lunar probe?

Hmmm, nope your wrong, there is not a funny joke in there somewhere

Brian

[nop]

Kaguya is carrying a high-definition TV camera as her big furniture and now she have sent a nice picture to us.

KAGUYA (SELENE) Successful Image Taking by the High Definition Television (HDTV)
http://www.jaxa.jp/topics/2007/10_e.html
http://www.jaxa.jp/press/2007/10/20071001_kaguya_j.html (in Japanese)

Delta-Vp2 was successful and now Kaguya is on the Moon transfer orbit.
The picture was taken on September 29, 110,000 km away from the Earth - the most distant HDTV image ever
You can see the South America.

The larger image is here. Enjoy!
http://www.jaxa.jp/press/2007/10/img/20071001_kaguya.jpg

[djellison]

Thanks for the heads up on that - great stuff!

Doug

[ustrax]

Wow! That looks so promising!

[ugordan]

Is that a colorized image or an actual color one? Looks like color, but South America is too invariably blue?

[dvandorn]

It's early spring in South America. There's a lot of moisture in the air over the entire continent. That, combined with the rather extreme slant angle through which we're looking at the ground in this image (putting a lot of air between the viewpoint and the ground) means that yes, it likely is a true-color view.

-the other Doug

[remcook]

I have no idea about the specs, but maybe the color filters are not ideal for "real" color pictures and are maximised to bring out color differences on the moon? Anyone know?

[punkboi]

Awesome photo, nop... Can't wait to see HDTV images and actual video footage of the Moon when Kaguya begins official science operations. Obviously.

[ugordan]

After taking a look at the channels, it is probably true this is a RGB image, but the green and especially the blue channel were overexposed, leading to the unnaturally (?) blue appearance. Here's an attempt at producing a more typical Earth appearance: