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 19 Explorer 19 Explorer 19 was an American satellite launched on December 19, 1963, as part of NASA's Explorers program. It was the third of six identical Explorer satellites launched to study air density and composition, and the second to reach orbit. It was identical to Explorer 9. The second of six identical air density research satellites to be launched, Explorer 9 was the first to successfully reach orbit. It was still operational when the next satellite, Explorer 19, was launched, allowing simultaneous readings to be taken and compared. The spacecraft consisted of alternating layers of aluminium foil and Mylar polyester