I could not let this event go by without a topic.

Japan has a probe in Lunar orbit. So too does China, with India soon to follow.

What sets the japanese probe apart is the ability it has to take images in a HDTV format. The probe wowed us with a image of Earth in HDTV early on in the mission, it is now sending back superb, land mark imagery of the Moon.

The above image is of the Lunar south pole.

Earth Rise above the Lunar North Pole.

If you do not think things get much better than this, then as the saying goes " You aint seen nothin yet! "

Visit this link for amazing HDTV movies from the Moon! 

Here are some stills i lifted from the three movies released so far.

Selenes arrival at the Moon (Colour corrected from original release for my web site.)

You can follow the mission here at the JAXA site. 

Plus i will be following the mission closely at my site. Enhancing images where needed, or adapting them. As i do with all solar system exploration missions.

My Site. 

With 8 metres of pixel resolution, Selene should with favourable lighting, shadows etc, be able to see Apollo landing sites at some point in its mission. Which is an exciting prospect.

It is fantastic that the moon is recieving a new bout of exploration, with China's "Chang'e 1" arriving, which will take images capable of being turned in to 3D movies, and the ability to build on previous missions hunt for water. It looks like a new era of Lunar exploration is truly underway.

If you are wondering, where is NASA? Well, hold on to your hats, it is sending a probe, The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter

Can you imagine seeing the Moon as we can see Mars with the Mars Reconnaissance Orbite? The new probe has the same camera onboard.

Which should once and for all silence the Apollo hoax lot! It will clearly image the Lunar landing sites. As the Mars Recon Orbiter has imaged both Mars Rovers, Viking, and pathfinder landers from martian orbit.

I just want to say, well done to the nation of japan. You have given the world some thrilling imagery. You have also given space science a huge shot in the arm. Exciting scenes which you have released can only promote space exploration with the general public. :)

Simply spectacular.

Good work on your site too! 

Thanks Stargazer at Large.

I am amazed and am really enjoying these images. I am planning a video of the mission. You may have seen that is an interest of mine while visiting the site. It is a hurriedly put together video, but i really wanted to get it out there fast and let people see these wonderful sights. I hope to make available versions of the video for play back on a DVD player.

For a few examples of the video projects i have done you can visit links at my site. 

The video will form "part 1" of this entire project. I will add to it as the mission unfolds. A fellow space enthusiast will also compose music to accompany it later on. 

No probs Doberman

I have just added a Selene page to my site. featuring You Tube screens for a video i made of the early mission imagery. Plus info and links on how to download a VCD version of that video.

Selene Pages

Hi Doberman : Not on topic at all this, but.... I would just like to take the opportunity to say a big thank you for the support and the huge encouragement you have given me regarding my website.

I noticed many of the people visiting my site have come from a link posted by yourself.

I made the site for myself and for like minded people who i felt may enjoy what i was doing too. I am glad in your case it has worked out as i planned.

I have assembled what i feel are the best images of the year from my site, and added them to a photo archive HERE.

If anybody would like to comment, or mark an image as their favourite.It would be fun and let an "Image of the year" emerge which would be great fun.

My website is Here

Hi Anth-Martian,

Those pictures are absolutely breathtaking! Now thats what I call using technology in fresh and creative ways! 

-Mr. Jackson 

I agree with you 100%.

I suppose we should not be surprised that the Japanese have been wonderfully innovative and used instruments which have really wowed us here onboard this probe.

But, they keep wowing me all the same!

The latest press release can be seen HERE

This update features the fantastic "Terrain Camera" which gives a 3d perspective to the land scapees in images. You'll find movies and images by visiting the above press release.

Hi Anth-Martian-

I've never seen anything like what the Japanese have done with their newest lunar probe!  Could it be the Japanese are beating Americans at their own game....AGAIN? I believe so. There is much more competition now-a-days, NASA! Not only JAXA, but the ESA is doing the 'cheaper, faster, better' formula blueprint for its 'Express' probes, and the results are what NASA had hope to do at some point in time. NASA still has some tricks up its sleeve it can use to wow American audiences with fresh, unique and creative programming with its dedicated satilite channel. I've got it on my DirectTV. Seeing the Casinni images on my dads 65" HDTV was an experience I'll never forget and to give credit where credit is due, a stroke of genius on their part. But if this is the best they can do with it in this day and age, we've lost our competitive edge and it's time they come to realize that.

-Mr. Jackson

I found an error in the SELENE EARTH-RISING photograph (purportedly taken Nov. 14th, 2007) which seems to indicate it is not genuine. If you look carefully, you will notice two things: 1) The earth has a shadow on the RIGHT side of the planet, and 2) Australia is inverted indicating we are looking at the earth from a South-pole perspective. If you look at a moon chart for Nov. 14th, 2007, you will see that these two facts are not consistent with each other. Here’s a very simple way to see it: First, go to the following link: http://homepages.maxnet.co.nz/creation/moon.html
There you will find a picture that shows the four main phases of the moon from the perspective of the Southern Hemisphere. According to any moon-phase chart, on the 14th of Nov. 2007, the moon was just passing a New Moon, and was on its way to a First Quarter. At that position, when viewing the moon from the earth, the light is on the left, and when viewing the earth from the moon, the light is on the right (so the earth’s shadow is on the left). When looking at the SELENE rising-earth photo, it is 100% clear that Australia is inverted, so we are definitely looking at the earth from a South-pole orientation. And it is 100% clear that the growing shadow on the earth is ON THE RIGHT, not the left where it should be. Any comments?

I found the answer - the image I was looking at is of an "EARTH-SETTING" not "EARTH-RISING", which means we are looking at the orbiter as it swings back under the moon and heads away from the earth.  Well, I'm glad the pictures now look correct!