Japan Moon Probe Snaps First Photos 184
mrcgran writes "Space.com reports, "Almost one month after Japan's successful launch of the Kaguya lunar probe, the unmanned observatory has begun its first major activities in orbit around the moon. In addition to snapping its first lunar images, the probe jettisoned one of two 110-pound (50-kilogram) "baby" satellites that will help create a detailed gravity map of the moon." The major objectives of the "KAGUYA" mission are to obtain scientific data of the lunar origin and evolution and to develop the technology for the future lunar exploration. "KAGUYA" consists of a main orbiting satellite at about 100km altitude and two small satellites (Relay Satellite and VRAD Satellite) in polar orbit."
Not me. (Score:4, Funny)
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haha, now I have an image in my head of those people on the roofs of skyscrapers in Independance Day, except they are all japanese and asking for their moon-probe-robotic-overlord back
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The "Moon": (Score:3, Funny)
Then quit whining.... (Score:5, Funny)
I would but... (Score:2)
I REQUIRE MORE MINERALS.
However, my VESPIAN GAS stores are UNSTOPPABLE.
Prettier webpage (Score:5, Informative)
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That's pretty dumb... but at least they put a blue filter on it to make it like a movie.
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Then it's obviously a fraud perpetrated by the Japanese. As a user of Google Moon, I am well aware of the fact that the Moon is yellow at high resolutions.
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Re:Prettier webpage (Score:4, Informative)
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Hey! Down in front! (Score:4, Funny)
That's no High Gain Antenna (Score:5, Funny)
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Seriously though, it's supposed to be right in the middle of the view, because that's exactly what the camera is for.
Re:Hey! Down in front! (Score:4, Funny)
The capricious manager who proposed moving the antenna at the last minute before launch must feel pretty stupid right now.
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Re:Hey! Down in front! (Score:4, Informative)
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So the big question is.... (Score:4, Funny)
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Their probe is using the same studio, so of course they'll find it all right there as expected.
Proof of the moon landing maybe? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Proof of the moon landing maybe? (Score:4, Insightful)
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XKCD [xkcd.com] put it quite eloquently. These are not theories that any amount of rational evidence or logic will refute.
Re:Proof of the moon landing maybe? (Score:4, Insightful)
Why don't people think of the soviets?
The one country on earth that desperatly wanted usa to fail.
The one country that had the technology to check if there really was a spaceship flying to the moon.
If there was anything even remotely fishy about the moon landing they would complain to no end.
And still they said nothing. They diden't even *try* to discredit the moon landing.
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And *thats* what makes the whole thing so suspicious!
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MOD PARENT INSIGHTFUL (Score:2)
heh! I think that's the first IN SOVIET RUSSIA joke that actually means something. The USA landing on the Moon first pretty much won the space race. The Soviet Union had a decent (if careless and hasty) space program, but failing to reach the Moon before the Americans was a big blow to their image.
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Complete with fake moon-boot print makers and all.
For real. No lie.
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If they had stayed there for days on end, yeah... that could have been problematic
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But... we can laugh our assess off at you if they confirm the landing(s), right?
Is it me or... (Score:4, Insightful)
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On the moon, nerds are spanked with moon-rocks!
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Yes but also... (Score:2)
>(new character... Asia!) in the rest of you guys too?
Yes, but also I have this nagging fear that we won't be able to dominate like we used to. We're lazier and more expensive than we used to be.
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Certainly it would generate some new technologies and possibly even support for the space program, but our current space program is so wrapped up
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If Asia's one contender in the race, who's the other?
Kaguya Hime (Score:5, Informative)
Kaguya is a golden-haired princess sent to the Earth from her Moon kingdom to learn about the joys and sadness of life. In various versions of the tale, she's required to return to the moon once she reaches adulthood.
Anime fans will note that the 'Moon Princess' motif is used repeatedly in modern stories, such as 'Sailor Moon', 'Mammotte Syugogetten' and more recently, 'Oh, Edo Rocket!'.
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HD (Score:5, Interesting)
One thing I noticed on the website is that they also carry an HDTV camera [www.jaxa.jp]! Can't wait to see some nice HD video from lunar orbit.
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Indeed, the fact the antenna is right in the middle, and the linked web site refers to a "on board camera for monitoring the high gain antenna", I would say this is pretty much confirmed. I look forward to the high def shots.
Anyone for Engrish? (Score:5, Funny)
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But they do it all in Japanese, the way Australians like me do everything in English.
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Wow.
You seem to be under the impression that we native English speakers are and will continue to be the center of the world.
We'll be lucky if the countries that are actually interested and doing real science and exploration keep bothering to tell us what's going on, even if the english is bad. We're too busy catering to the lowest common denominator by pouring all our collective energy into making every singl
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Oh cut the politically correct crap. Translating to English isn't generally for the benefit of the native speakers, it's to allow for as broad of an audience as possible. Why the fuck do you think we're typing this in English? Hint: it's not just because Slashdot is from the U.S. And now, think about who will have the most problems reading poorly translated English? Hint: it's not native
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There must be plenty of Japanese/English translators who can manage better than that. Why don't they hire one?
They're all busy translating the latest manga and anime for free.
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Actually, I don't care what language you do your science in, but if you're going to release a press release about it in another language you should have at least one native speaker proof your work. Even the best product in the world is bound to fail if you have lousy marketing.
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How true!
Gravity map? (Score:2)
On a *gravity* map? Never! (Score:2)
Of course the gravity map *might* find the buried Atlantean spaceship because of its mini-blackhole power source, but I doubt it....
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Time to read the book again. It was the magnetic field which made it stand out, possibly maintained by current in a loop of superconductor.
There is a pretty good chance we would have found it by now. [springerlink.com]
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Too much psycho-AI on the mind (Score:2)
Protoss?? (Score:2)
That was nice BBS software by the way (Score:2)
When do the giant alien monsters attack Tokyo? (Score:2)
Moon landing set? Yeah what ever you say. (Score:2, Funny)
General: But that's where we're building the set for the fake moon landing.
President Truman: Then we'll have to really land on the moon. Invent NASA and tell them to get off their fannies.
Remember... (Score:4, Funny)
Nah, I'm no so amused about the landing site, it's the enormous "Kilroy was here" on the darkside of the moon I'm wait for....
The don't have the resolution (Score:3, Informative)
wiki article [wikipedia.org] (look for the data on the Terrain Camera)
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You mean the Far side of the moon [wikipedia.org]. The "dark side" is just the side that is facing away from the Sun at that time. Every part of the moon will see darkness at some point. If "Kilroy" was on the "dark side of the moon" right now, and it wasn't in the "far side", you would see it in just a few hours.
What a vain probe! (Score:4, Funny)
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Oblig. (Score:2)
Incentive (Score:2)
demographics (Score:2)
It wont be as bad in a generation or two.
Conspiracy theories = (Score:2)
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umm i hate to rain on your parade there kiddo but china and japan hate each other. there's a few centuries of mistrust and ill will between them - they love america far far more.
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You mean, they hate America far far less...
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China is nowhere close to being a threat. Stop getting brainwashed by the media. Our greatest threat is ourselves.
Re:Weapons (Score:4, Insightful)
Oh for crying out loud, the thinly veiled reference to Iraq is ludicrous.
We didn't unilaterally invade Japan. They were at war prior to our involvement with them.
Japan wasn't harboring long term resentment over American oppression and manipulation at the individual level the way many Iraqi's 'hate america'.
Japan wasn't already on the point of a civil war due to multiple mutually hostile internal factions that were barely being contained by the brutal dictator we installed and propped up.
So it was largely the government that was at war with the US, not the 'people'.
So when Japan surrendered after the nuclear weapons attacks, and the government was dissolved and reformed they really did surrender, and the whole country especially the average civilians were pretty unified in their desire to get on with the rebuilding. Iraq has gone a completely different direction; with multiple competing hostile factions that were there all along going at each other with America caught in the middle of it.
Even if the US manages to ultimately succeed, it will be by siding with one of the factions and helping them become dominant and rebuilding with them... this will only alienate the other factions who will just become even more hostile to the US, and they will gather with allies in Afghanistan, Iran, etc.
At -best- its going to be Israel all over again. Sure we have a great ally in the faction we helped dominate and claim and rebuild the space, but at what cost? perpetual war and festering anti-american sentiment from the displaced/neighboring factions.
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Sorry but that is simply not true. Way to rewrite history. The majority of Japanese citizens believed in what their government was doing. That was one of the reasons in fact that the bombs were dropped despite the fact that the US was already on the point of winning the war by conventional means. US generals believed that there would essentially be no way to really 'win' in any conventional sense because there would be so many ci
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You misunderstood what I was trying to say. Yes the Japanese believed in what their government was doing, but it was faith in their own government and patriotism not years of ground in hatred of America that would have driven them to fight.
These sneaky little bombs here and there are just not going to do it. Sorry. So they may be pissed about being occupied by a foreign p
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Canada was and is in Afghanistan. They declined to participate in Iraq, and were against it.
The US sent 250,000
As for the 'many other countries' sent troops, you are referring to:
Of the 41 countries involved: 39 of them sent 2000 or less. (Of that 39, 33 sent less than 500, and of that 33, 12 sent less than 100.) A few sent less than 10.
But ok, it was still a US led coaltion. No real argument there.
The U.S. didn't invade Iraq unilaterally
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I think it's heartening that history is showing a trend that the aggressor in a war takes more and more blame for it and suffers accordingly in the long term. It's not 100% true, but it's more true than it used
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"Peaceful relations"
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But, since you brought up Iraq, it really doesn't matter what you think about about the war or why we went in. The reality of the situation is that we are there now. Trying to change the subject is denying reality! Explaining why
Re:Got a snap of the American flag they left behin (Score:5, Funny)
Everything left on the moon worked perfectly! (That slapping sound you hear is a horde of retired NASA engineers throwing down gauntlets)
I want to see if these conspiracy theories can be put to rest for good. Can they photograph the equipment left behind?
These are people who don't accept the existing film, photographs, hunks of moon rock, etc, as evidence; more photos won't make a scrap of difference. The only way to refute conspiracy theorists is to take them to the moon and push them out an airlock without a space suit so they can experience the low gravity and hard vaccuum first hand (and even then they'd probably use their last breath attempting to argue that it couldn't have been done in the 1960's...).
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Worth the risk, IMO.
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Re:At least someone thinks the moon is a good idea (Score:3, Insightful)
Well, that and Mars (MER), Jupiter and its moons (New Horizons), Pluto (New Horizons), Saturn (Cassini), the Heliopause (Voyager), and incidentally the Moon (Orion), right?
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