Japanese Lunar Exploration Program the LUNAR-A mission, and a small data relay satellite. SELENE-3 aims to return about 100 grams of samples from the Moon surface. It will be launched around 2020. However, due to financial issues JAXA is currently facing, this mission may be merged into the option-3 of SELENE-X. SELENE-X will be launched in the late 2010s, in view of Japan’s participation in Humans Lunar Activities foreseen. The SELENE-X may perform either of the following demonstrations: There are other options under study, and will be determined after the international exploration strategy has been clarified. MELOS (Mars Exploration with Lander-Orbiter Synergy) is a
Explorer 50 Explorer 50 Explorer 50, also known as IMP-J or IMP-8, was a NASA satellite launched to study the magnetosphere. It was the eighth and last in a series of the Interplanetary Monitoring Platform. Explorer 50 was launched on 23 October 1973 at 02:26:03 UTC, by a Delta 1604 rocket from Cape Canaveral AFS, Florida. The spacecraft functioned nominally until 7 October 2006. The satellite orbited the Earth once every 12 days, at an inclination of 28.6 degrees. Its perigee was 22 earth radii and apogee was 45 earth radii. Explorer 50 was a drum-shaped spacecraft, across and height, with propulsion