The New Moon Race

A new race for the moon began in September. Japan launched its Selene (or Kaguya) lunar probe on September 13. You can read about the launch at space.com.

Below is a short video clip of the launch from the Japanese space agency (JAXA).



Space.com reported that it reached lunar orbit on October 5 . Its mission is expected to last for one year. It deployed two microsatellites, RSAT and VRAD, to aid it in its mission to create detailed maps of the Moon's surface and gravitational field.

Here is a beautiful video of the Earthrise as viewed from Kaguya on November 7:



China launched its Chang'e 1 (the Chinese goddess of the Moon) probe on October 24:




BBC.com reported that it reached lunar orbit today. This follows the successful launching of two manned missions in 2003 and 2005. Its mission is to obtain three dimensional maps of the lunar surface, probe the lunar soil, and make distribution maps of valuable elements like titanium and uranium. It is part of a very extensive program for manned mission to the Moon and possible colonization.

India is not going to be left behind. It plans to launch its own, Chandrayaan, early next year.

Here is an excellent animation that explains the mission:




All three nations have the goal of putting an astronaut on the Moon within the next fifteen to twenty years. The Asian tigers just broke orbit.