17. Japanese Lunar Probe
On its way … the H-2A rocket lifts off from the Pacific island of Tanegashima yesterday morning, carrying the Kaguya probe - AP Photo.
Japan has become the first Asian nation to send its wares to the moon, blasting a three-tonne orbiter called Kaguya into space and opening the way for a new space race with China and India.
After four years of setbacks, the Japanese H-2A rocket carrying Kaguya lifted off at 10.30 yesterday morning into blue skies over the small Pacific island of Tanegashima, almost 1000 kilometres south of Tokyo.
The orbiter's 21-day journey to the moon marks the start of a year-long mission that Japan hopes will strike a blow against China's rapidly expanding space program.
Japanese scientists say the ¥55 billion ($570 million) project to launch Kaguya, also known as the Selenological and Engineering Explorer, is the biggest and most technically challenging mission to the moon since the US Apollo missions ended in 1972.
But unlike America and the Soviet Untion, for whom the race to the moon formed part of their Cold War rivalry, Japan has "no military factors in mind at all" as it peers over its shoulder at its east Asian rival, said Shinichi Sobue, senior engineer at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. "We want to give children dreams."
China is expected to send its Chang'e 1 satellite to the moon by the end of the year and aims to land an unmanned vehicle there by 2010. India, which will launch its Chandrayaan 1 satellite next year, hopes to put a human on the moon by 2020.
America's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite are also scheduled to leave for the moon in a combined mission next year, while Russia plans to launch its Luna-Glob satellite in 2012.
Japan's space agency has said it would like to send humans to the moon by 2025, but officials are privately sceptical about such an expensive goal.
In the meantime, scientists hope that Kaguya, named after a moon-dwelling princess in an old Japanese folktale, can shed light on several mysteries.
The lunar explorer separated from its 53-metre-tall rocket 45 minutes after blast-off and orbited the Earth twice before beginning its 380,000-kilometre voyage to the moon.
As it orbits the moon from a distance of 100 kilometres, Kaguya's orbiter, two 50-kilogram satellites and 14 observation instruments will survey the distribution of elements and minerals, map uncharted polar areas, measure gravity fields and study the surface for clues about its evolution.
A high-definition television camera provided by the national broadcaster NHK will send back images of the Earth as it rises from the moon's horizon.
Scientists from the University of Tasmania will use the 26-metre Mt Pleasant radio telescope, south-east of Hobart, to assist one of Kaguya's experiments, measuring the moon's gravitational field.
Dr Simon Ellingsen, from the university's School of Mathematics and Physics, said new information could be used to test theories about how the planets formed.
Some reports have said that China's first lunar mission hopes to uncover uranium, potassium and helium-3, a rare element useful for nuclear fusion, prompting Japanese officials to speculate about its motives - AP.
