Lunar orbit


Japan's SELENE probe has successfully reached lunar orbit, a first for this country, Japanese space agency officials said Friday. Now that they have shown that they can achieve that, how about some decent bicycle roads and make this beatuiful country a bit easier for all those of us who likes to take it slow!

(Image: Artist's rendering released Aug. 2006 by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA))

Updated: And I should add a link to Pandabonium's delightful essay about Kaguya:

SELENE has been nicknamed KAGUYA and is referred to by that name within JAXA and in press reports in honor of the ancient tale of the bamboo cutter's daughter. Once again Kaguya-hima has risen into the heavens on a chariot and is going home - to the Moon.

Do read the rest of his post: A Moon Maiden Takes Flight - Princess Kaguya

Comments

Pandabonium said…
If they stopped building so many unnecessary roads and used the money for pedestrian and bicycle paths it would help. Around here the latest "pork barrel" fad is adding concrete storm drains along the edge of every rural road - a total waste, perhaps even detrimental since it puts more run-off into the lakes and ocean rather than letting it soak into the ground. Sigh.

All is not lost. I just got back from a an hour bike ride on the back roads through rice paddies and stands of sugi trees.
4:09 pm, October 06, 2007
Anonymous said…
I applaud the SELENE (Kaguya) mission. It is quite an ambitious undertaking to gain knowledge about our nearest neighbor in space, which in turn may offer a wealth of knowledge about our own planet. Considering the cost is only about US$264 million it is a bargain. The USA is spending 12 Billion (with a B) every month on war right now.
8:31 pm, October 07, 2007
Pandabonium said…
Gomen. Shitsureishimasu. I forgot to thank you for the compliment and link. :O
8:33 pm, October 07, 2007
Momo the Wonder Dog said…
I think we need an even more ambitious project. We should build a spacecraft to accommodate the world's human heads of state, and send them to the moon to explore it for us.

It would be too expensive to provide a return trip, of course. The project should be repeated every - oh, I don't know - five years or so.

Even if we didn't learn much about the moon, the world itself would no doubt be a better place.

Just a canine point of view. :p
7:56 pm, October 11, 2007
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Global Article 9 Conference to Abolish War

Image
A unique three-day international conference is being held at Makuhari near Tokyo, a day after the 61st anniversary of the enforcement of Japan's Constitution. It is organized by nongovernmental groups, including Japan-based Peace Boat . Organizers said the meeting will provide an opportunity to discuss the significance of the constitutional article that endorses demilitarization and what people can do to promote its spirit, notes The Japan Times . While the constitution stipulates that Japan renounces war as a sovereign right and that it will not maintain land, sea and air forces, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party has been keen to make amendments. "The war in Iraq has shown that even the strongest, biggest army in the world can not keep peace in a single city. It proves that aggression never instates peace," Tatsuya Yoshioka, director of Peace Boat and a representative of the event's organizing committee, said during the opening remarks. "Article 9 is a treasu
Read more

マーティンの鵜の目鷹の目 -世界の消費者運動の旅から

Image
  My new book has been published! マーティン・フリッド (著)   世界中の消費者が同じ課題を抱え、悩み、たたかっている。スウェーデンに生まれ、ヨーロッパ、そして日本の消費者運動の現場を歩いてきた著者が、人びとの日常によりそいながら軽妙なユーモアを交えて食、環境、エネルギー、社会のあり方、政治、経済を考えます。   https://nishoren.net/new-information/14177 Consumers all over the world are facing similar problems, worries, and struggles. In this book, the author, who was born in Sweden and has walked the frontlines of consumer movements in Europe and Japan, con
Read more

Salvador Dali, Hiroshima and Okinawa

Image
Spanish artist Salvador Dali was deeply terrified by the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki , and his exact, detailed style was very much suited to show the horror of the A-bomb, which America tried to keep a secret by classifying photos and descriptions until the end of the occupation of Japan in 1952. The Bureau of Atomic Tourism has more details if you want to know more about the legacy of nuclear weapons in the U.S. Even today, do people understand the real horror of atomic bombs? If not, then, why not ? Dali's paintings are on display in Fukushima prefecture, where you can view Melancholy Atomic and Uranium Idyll and The Three Sphinxes of Bikini at the Morohashi Museum of Modern Art . Long YouTube video from the Nihon University (Nichidai) channel with an interview featuring Morohashi Eiji, the son of the founder of the unique museum, and scenes from the Morohashi Museum (29:20): #271美術館への誘い ダリの世界 Is there a hidden message in Dali's Bikini hydrogen bomb painting
Read more