Japan to launch probe to moon
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
Japan’s space agency announced Thursday that it plans to send its first probe around the moon in August.
The $269-million Selene, or Selenological and Engineering Explorer, will be carried into space by a Japanese-built H-2A rocket, the agency said. During its one-year mission, the probe is to release two small satellites to measure the moon’s magnetic and gravitational fields. Selene will be launched from the remote southern island of Tanegashima.
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