LUNAR-A
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LUNAR-A is a Japanese spacecraft that was scheduled to be launched in August 2004. After many delays (primarily due to potential faults in its thrusters [1]) the launch date is now set for 2010. [2]. It will be carried into space by a Japanese M-V launch vehicle from the Kagoshima Space Center.
The vehicle is cylindrical in shape, with a diameter of 2.2 m and a height of 1.7 m. It has four solar panels and is engineered to be spin-stabilized. It will enter into an elliptical orbit around the Moon, and will deploy two penetrators at an altitude of 40 km on opposite sides of the lunar body. These are braked by a small rocket at an altitude of 25 km, then free fall to the surface. They are designed to withstand a collision of up to 330 meters per second, and should readily penetrate the lunar regolith.
The penetrators contain seismometers and heat-flow probes. They should operate for a year, and will transmit data back to the orbiting craft. They will be used to observe lunar quakes and to determine if the Moon has a core. The lunar surface is considered nearly transparent at the transmission frequencies, so the compressed signals should be received from orbit.
Once the penetrators are deployed, the LUNAR-A spacecraft will maneuver to an orbital altitude of 200 km above the surface. The craft carries a monochromatic imaging camera that will have a resolution of 30 m.
Lunar-A is currently under technology testing. This phase will last until the end of FY 2007. A communication test with the penetrator was done in Mexico in June 2006. The test was probably successful.
