Exploration of the Moon with the Hiten spacecraft, becoming the third country to place an object in orbit around the Moon. The spacecraft released the Hagoromo probe into lunar orbit, but the transmitter failed, thereby preventing further scientific use of the spacecraft. In September 2007, Japan launched the SELENE spacecraft, with the objectives "to obtain scientific data of the lunar origin and evolution and to develop the technology for the future lunar exploration", according to the JAXA official website. The European Space Agency launched a small, low-cost lunar orbital probe called SMART 1 on September 27, 2003. SMART 1's primary goal was to take
Explorer 45 The spin rate was about 7 rpm, and the spin axis lay in the spacecraft orbital plane which was approximately the same as the earth's equatorial plane. The initial local time of apogee was about 21.8 hours and the line of apsides moved around toward the sun at an initial rate of 12° per month. The satellite was operationally turned off on 30 September 1974, after approximately 3 years of successful and productive operation. Explorer 45 Explorer 45 (also called as S-Cubed A and SSS-A) was a NASA satellite launched as part of Explorers program. Explorer 45 as launched on