OTD in Space - September 13: Japan Launches Kaguya Moon Mission

On Sept. 13, 2007, Japan launched the Kaguya spacecraft on a mission to the moon.

Formally known as SELENE, which is short for SELenological and ENgineering Explorer, it was Japan's second moon mission.
Kaguya launched from Tanegashima Space Center on a Japanese H-2A rocket and looped around the Earth twice before heading to the moon. It carried 14 science instruments and two microsatellites to map the mo on's surface and study its gravitational field.
After a 20-day journey, it arrived in lunar orbit. The mission consisted of three spacecraft: a main orbiter, a small communications satellite, and a third small satellite to map the moon's gravitational field. After about a year of lunar observations, the mission ended with a planned crash landing on the lunar surface.