[FPSPACE] Japan lunar mission successfully on its way

[pjp]

>From Agency France Presse:

 

http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Japan_says_lunar_orbiter_launch_a_s_09132007.ht
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Japan says lunar orbiter launch a success

 

Japan's first lunar orbiter successfully launched Friday on the largest
mission to investigate the moon since the US Apollo programme began nearly
four decades ago, the space agency said.

"We successfully launched the rocket and released the orbiter from the
rocket," said Eriko Sunada, a spokeswoman for the Japan Aerospace
Exploration Agency in Tokyo.

The orbiter separated from the domestically developed H-2A rocket about 45
minutes after it took off from the Space Centre on the small island of
Tanegashima off the southern tip of Kyushu Island, southern Japan.

The lunar orbiter, aiming to collect data for research of the moon's origin
and evolution, will travel around the Earth before moving into an orbit of
the moon in early October, officials said.

The one-year mission, which is several years behind schedule due to
technical mishaps, is said by the agency to be the largest lunar mission
since the US Apollo programme began in the 1960s.

The explorer is named "Kaguya" after a beautiful princess who charms many
men before ascending to her home, the moon, in a popular Japanese folktale.

The probe will consist of a main unit, which will orbit 100 kilometres (60
miles) above the moon, and two small satellites.