Japanese Lunar Exploration Program 2007, after being delayed several times. SELENE-2, Japan's first lunar lander and rover, is expected to be launched in the 2020s. The program also includes a lunar sample return mission (SELENE-3), a mission to Mars to collect data for future manned expeditions (MELOS), participation in the Mars international sample return mission, and an advanced lander for future human missions to the Moon. The eventual goal is to participate in an international lunar outpost program, in which Japanese crews would stay on the lunar surface for a prolonged period of time and promote scientific research and environment utilization. SELENE (Selenological and
Explorer 47 Explorer 47 Explorer 47, also known IMP-7 and Interplanetary Monitoring Platform IMP-H, was an American satellite launched as part of Explorers program. Explorer 47 as launched on 23 September 1972 on Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., with an Delta rocket. Explorer 47 was the seventh satellite of the Interplanetary Monitoring Platform. Explorer 47 continued the study begun by earlier IMP spacecraft of the interplanetary and magnetotail regions from a nearly circular orbit, near 37 earth radii. This 16 sided drum-shaped spacecraft was high and in diameter. It was designed to measure energetic particles, plasma and electric and magnetic fields. The spin