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 43 Explorer 43 Explorer 43, also called as IMP-I and IMP 6, was a U.S. satellite launched as part of Explorers program. Explorer 43 as launched on March 13, 1971 on Cape Canaveral, with an Delta rocket. Explorer 43 was the sixth satellite of the Interplanetary Monitoring Platform. Explorer 43 continued the study, begun by earlier IMPs, of the interplanetary and outer magnetospheric regions by measuring energetic particles, plasma, and electric and magnetic fields. A radioastronomy experiment was also included in the spacecraft payload. The 16-sided spacecraft was high by in diameter. The spacecraft spin axis was normal to the ecliptic