WORLD : Japan Satellite in Moon Orbit

Japan put a satellite into orbit around the moon today, joining the United States and the Soviet Union in the accomplishment, scientists said.

Japan’s first lunar satellite, Muses-A, completed two missions, a swing-by flight designed to boost its speed and enlarge its elliptical Earth orbit, and the placement of a smaller satellite in lunar orbit, said the government’s Institute of Space and Astronautical Science.

“Both tests were completely successful, and we deeply thank U.S. and Japanese scientists for their cooperation in the probe,” said an institute spokesman, who was not identified.

The institute’s chief scientist, Kuninori Uesugi, said the release of the smaller basketball-sized experimental satellite into orbit around the moon, required extraordinary accuracy, “in baseball terms . . . comparable to hitting the eyeball of a bug in the outfield from home base.”