SKIRMISHER

While so few were looking, the Japanese lunar probe SELENE has reached lunar orbit, which makes Japan the first Asian country to do so ahead of China and India.

The mission involves placing the main satellite — called ”Kaguya,” after a legendary moon princess — in a circular orbit at an altitude of about 60 miles and deploying two smaller satellites in elliptical orbits, according to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA.Researchers will use data gathered by the probes to study the moon’s origin and evolution. Takizawa said it will begin its observation phase in mid- to late-December.

”The timing was very delicate,” he said at a news conference in JAXA’s Tokyo headquarters via a video link from the mission command center south of the capital. ”It was important to the completion of the mission, and it was successful.”

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