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 21 on October 13, 1965 Explorer 21 Explorer 21, also called IMP-B and Interplanetary Monitoring Platform IMP-B, was an American satellite launched as part of Explorers program. Explorer 21 as launched on 27 November 1964 on Cape Canaveral, Florida, United States, with an Delta rocket. Explorer 21 was the second satellite of the Interplanetary Monitoring Platform. Explorer 21 was a solar cell and chemical-battery powered spacecraft instrumented for interplanetary and distant magnetospheric studies of energetic particles, cosmic rays, magnetic fields, and plasmas. Each normal telemetry sequence of 81.9 s in duration consisted of 795 data bits. After every third normal sequence