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A lander is a spacecraft that descends towards,then comes to rest on the surface of an astronomical body other than Earth. In contrast to an impact probe,which makes a hard landing that damages or destroys the probe upon reaching the surface,a lander makes a soft landing after which the probe remains functional.
Nozomi was a Japanese Mars orbiter that failed to reach Mars due to electrical failure. It was constructed by the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science,University of Tokyo and launched on July 4,1998,at 03:12 JST with an on-orbit dry mass of 258 kg and 282 kg of propellant. The Nozomi mission was terminated on December 31,2003.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is the Japanese national air and space agency. Through the merger of three previously independent organizations,JAXA was formed on 1 October 2003. JAXA is responsible for research,technology development and launch of satellites into orbit,and is involved in many more advanced missions such as asteroid exploration and possible human exploration of the Moon. Its motto is One JAXA and its corporate slogan is Explore to Realize.
SELENE,better known in Japan by its nickname Kaguya (かぐや),was the second Japanese lunar orbiter spacecraft following the Hiten probe. Produced by the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) and the National Space Development Agency (NASDA),the spacecraft was launched on September 14,2007. After successfully orbiting the Moon for a year and eight months,the main orbiter was instructed to impact on the lunar surface near the crater Gill on June 10,2009.
A Moon landing or lunar landing is the arrival of a spacecraft on the surface of the Moon. This includes both crewed and robotic missions. The first human-made object to touch the Moon was the Soviet Union's Luna 2,on 13 September 1959.
A sample-return mission is a spacecraft mission to collect and return samples from an extraterrestrial location to Earth for analysis. Sample-return missions may bring back merely atoms and molecules or a deposit of complex compounds such as loose material and rocks. These samples may be obtained in a number of ways,such as soil and rock excavation or a collector array used for capturing particles of solar wind or cometary debris. Nonetheless,concerns have been raised that the return of such samples to planet Earth may endanger Earth itself.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to space exploration.
The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) is a NASA robotic spacecraft currently orbiting the Moon in an eccentric polar mapping orbit. Data collected by LRO have been described as essential for planning NASA's future human and robotic missions to the Moon. Its detailed mapping program is identifying safe landing sites,locating potential resources on the Moon,characterizing the radiation environment,and demonstrating new technologies.
A lunar rover or Moon rover is a space exploration vehicle designed to move across the surface of the Moon. The Apollo Program's Lunar Roving Vehicle was driven on the Moon by members of three American crews,Apollo 15,16,and 17. Other rovers have been partially or fully autonomous robots,such as the Soviet Union's Lunokhods,Chinese Yutus,and the Indian Pragyan. Four countries have had operating rovers on the Moon:the Soviet Union,the United States,China and India. Japan and Greece currently have planned missions.
The (Japanese) Lunar Exploration Program is a program of robotic and human missions to the Moon undertaken by the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and its division,the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS). It is also one of the three major enterprises of the JAXA Space Exploration Center (JSPEC). The main goal of the program is "to elucidate the origin and evolution of the Moon and utilize the Moon in the future".
Lunar Flashlight was a low-cost CubeSat lunar orbiter mission to explore,locate,and estimate size and composition of water ice deposits on the Moon for future exploitation by robots or humans.
Lunar IceCube is a NASA nanosatellite orbiter mission that was intended to prospect,locate,and estimate amount and composition of water ice deposits on the Moon for future exploitation. It was launched as a secondary payload mission on Artemis 1,the first flight of the Space Launch System (SLS),on 16 November 2022. As of February 2023 it's unknown whether NASA team has contact with satellite or not.
LunIR is a nanosatellite spacecraft launched to the Moon collecting surface spectroscopy and thermography. It was launched as a secondary payload on the Artemis 1 mission on 16 November 2022.
Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) is a lunar lander being developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The lander will demonstrate precision landing technology. By 2017,the lander was planned to be launched in 2021,but this has been subsequently delayed until 28 August 2023 due to delays in SLIM's rideshare mission,X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM). On the 28th,the launch was further delayed due to weather conditions at the launch site. A new launch attempt will be performed on 6 September at 23:42 UTC.
EQUULEUS is a nanosatellite of the 6U CubeSat format that will measure the distribution of plasma that surrounds the Earth (plasmasphere) to help scientists understand the radiation environment in that region. It will also demonstrate low-thrust trajectory control techniques,such as multiple lunar flybys,within the Earth-Moon region using water steam as propellant. The spacecraft was designed and developed jointly by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and the University of Tokyo.
OMOTENASHI was a small spacecraft and semi-hard lander of the 6U CubeSat format intended to demonstrate low-cost technology to land and explore the lunar surface. The CubeSat was to take measurements of the radiation environment near the Moon as well as on the lunar surface. Omotenashi is a Japanese word for "welcome" or "Hospitality".
The Artemis program is a robotic and human Moon exploration program led by the United States' National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) along with six major partner agencies—the European Space Agency (ESA),the German Aerospace Center (DLR),the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA),the Canadian Space Agency (CSA),the Israel Space Agency (ISA),and the Italian Space Agency (ASI). The Artemis program is intended to reestablish a human presence on the Moon for the first time since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972. The main parts of the program are the Space Launch System (SLS),the Orion spacecraft,the Lunar Gateway space station,and the commercial Human Landing Systems. The program's long-term goal is to establish a permanent base on the Moon to facilitate the feasibility of human missions to Mars.
References
- ↑ Lunar-A launch delayed Space Today (March 31, 2004)
- ↑ "Japan's Moon mission in jeopardy". Associated Press. 2007-01-15. Retrieved 2007-01-15.
- ↑ "LUNAR-A Lunar Explorer" (PDF). JAXA. Retrieved March 19, 2023.
- ↑ "Lunar-A". NASA NSSDCA. Retrieved March 19, 2023.