Japan's Maiden Moon Probe Ready for Liftoff Next Year

Believe it or not, Japan is ready to lift its own probe off to the moon next year. Behind the project is a private research team Hakuto or "white hare" membered by 100 researchers from academia and space-linked personnel who have joined force to assemble a lunar probe 60-cm long weighing 4 kilo. It moves about on four vane wheelers, so shaped for ease of movement on irregular surfaces of the moon.

The project Hakuto is taking part in an international space communication contest engineered by Google and private foundations along with 16 teams from all parts of the world. The participant probes race for what data, still and video, they can relay to the earth over a distance of 500-meters travelled on the moon surface. The winning probe will be awarded $20 million.

Hakuto embarks on a running test late September at the sand dunes in Tottori. The probe is scheduled to be lifted off within the next year for Japan's first lunar exploration.

Takeshi Okuda, leader of the Hakuto Project, comments:

"We've finally ironed out the details and ready to head for the moon. It's important that we carry out what we initially set out to do."

The probe "Flight Model" is made considerably lighter than its predecessor which weighed 7 kilo. The present model is roughly 4 kilo - almost half in weight. The former model was built 30% with aluminum and most of the aluminum part is now replaced with carbon fiber-enforced plastics. The number of blades of the vane wheels is reduced from 23 to 15. The cost of liftoff goes up $120 thousand per kilo - so the lighter the less costlier.

The team has picked the sand dunes in Tottori for the running test for the similarities of landscape and ground surface. Shuhei Akimoto of the team Hakuto comments:

"The sand dunes there look similar to the moon surface and provide sufficient space for necessary experiments. We need to make sure our probe is capable of communicating under any feasible condition."

Well, it's great to see a Japanese exploration vehicle take part in the lunar communication contest. I'm dead certain our probe will outperform others - personally. (Nathan Shiga)