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
Drag and Atmospheric Neutral Density Explorer Drag and Atmospheric Neutral Density Explorer DANDE (or Drag and Atmospheric Neutral Density Explorer) is a 50 kg class spacecraft developed by the University of Colorado Boulder was the winner of the 5th iteration of the Air Force Research Laboratory's University Nanosat Program. Due to a failure in a spacecraft system, the ground team was uanable to actively command the satellite and spacecraft became just a passive object in Earth orbit by which some passive drag characteristics might be deduced. DANDE launched on September 29, 2013 and correctly separated from the launch vehicle. After a month of assessing spacecraft health,