description SELENE (Kaguya) Overview
SELENE, formally designated as Kaguya, was a Japanese lunar exploration mission operated by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Launched in September 2007, it was the largest lunar mission since the Apollo program, consisting of a main orbiter and two smaller relay and VLBI satellites. The spacecraft carried thirteen scientific instruments designed to survey the Moon's surface topology, magnetic field, and gravity field in unprecedented detail. It successfully returned high-definition video of the lunar surface before deliberately crashing into the Moon in June 2009.
insights Ranking position
SELENE (Kaguya) ranks #44 of 100 in the Spacecraft ranking, behind Phoenix lander, ahead of Soyuz-T.
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Why was SELENE called Kaguya?
JAXA selected Kaguya as the mission's public nickname after a character in the Japanese folktale The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter. SELENE is the technical acronym for Selenological and Engineering Explorer.
What did the Kaguya spacecraft discover about the Moon?
Its instruments produced detailed topographic, mineralogical, magnetic, and gravity measurements of the lunar surface. Data from the mission also improved maps of the Moon's far side, which cannot be observed directly from Earth.
Did Kaguya land on the Moon?
It was primarily an orbiter, not a soft-landing mission. At the end of operations in 2009, JAXA deliberately directed the main spacecraft into the lunar surface.
Did Kaguya carry smaller satellites?
Yes. The main orbiter deployed two relay satellites named Okina and Ouna. They supported measurements of the Moon's gravity field, particularly over the far side.
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