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Projects: Messages from Earth

Wish Upon the Moon with Kaguya (SELENE)

SELENE

Febuary 28, 2007

We are no longer collecting names and wishes for this mission. If you have already submitted your wish and would like to get your certficate click here.

As part of our Messages from Earth project, The Planetary Society joined with The Planetary Society of Japan and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) in the "Wish Upon the Moon" campaign, sending thousands of names and messages to the Moon on Japan's Kaguya mission. 

If you signed up in time, you can still Get Your Certficate now!

"Back to the Moon and on to Mars." - Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin

"Beyond the Moon, Mars beckons." - science fiction author Ray Bradbury

What message did you send?

The Kaguya Mission

Kaguya's primary mission objectives will be to investigate the Moon globally from a scientific viewpoint, thereby creating a more detailed map of the lunar surface and learning more about the origin and evolution of the Moon. The mission also seeks to develop technology for future lunar exploration. The year-long mission is scheduled to launch in summer 2007 and enter lunar orbit about a month later.

Kaguya consists of three separate spacecraft  -- a main spacecraft that will circle the Moon in an elliptical orbit and two small relay satellites that will assume a polar orbit.  The main spacecraft will assume a polar orbit for the scientific lunar investigation. The scientific instruments on board the main orbiter will measure the Moon’s magnetic field and map its gravity field.  Instruments will also measure elemental and mineral distribution, surface structure and the lunar environment.

In the past, lunar missions consisting of single spacecraft have been unable to map the gravity field of the far side of the Moon. Gravity experiments require a real-time radio link to Earth, so when a lunar orbiting spacecraft disappears behind the Moon, it is impossible to acquire the necessary data. The Relay and VRAD satellites will permit SELENE to conduct gravity experiments on the far side of the Moon by relaying the spacecraft’s radio transmissions from that region to Earth in real time.

2007 will mark the beginning of an International Lunar Decade.  Japan, China, India, the United States, and Russia are all developing lunar mission plans to launch in the next few years – with orbiters, landers, rovers and sample returns expected to precede a human return to the Moon. 

Find out more about the Kaguya mission at the JAXA website »

JAXA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, is the sponsor of the worldwide WISH UPON THE MOON campaign with the support of The Planetary Society and The Planetary Society of Japan.