TOKYO, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- Japan's first lunar probe satellite had been
successfully put into observation orbit around the moon, the Japan Aerospace
Exploration Agency (JAXA) said Friday.
According to JAXA's press release issued earlier in the day, the
Selenological and Engineering Explorer had finished its task of reducing the
maximum distance to the moon and was circling around the moon in an almost
rounded orbit.
The satellite was currently orbiting in a track of 80 to 123 kilometers
around the surface of the moon, the press release said.
JAXA officials said the orbit was not the final stable one for the
satellite. Its angle and position would be further adjusted in the following
days with an aim to direct cameras and all related instruments to point to the
moon.
The final stable observation orbit of the explorer would be a rounded one
with a distance of about 100 kilometers to the surface of the moon, officials
said, adding that it has to be waited until Sunday when JAXA could tell whether
the final orbit could be realized as scheduled.
The satellite, named "Kaguya" after ancient Japanese fable, was lifted off
from the Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan by a H-2A rocket on Sept.
14. It was injected into the lunar orbit on Oct. 4.
Consisting of a 3-ton main orbiter and two 50-kilogram sub-satellites,
Kaguya is equipped with 14 scientific instruments and a high-definition
television camera.
Under the 55 billion yen (474 million U.S. dollars) project, Kaguya is to
begin its 10-month mission around December, collecting lunar features related
with the origin and evolution of the moon.
