Comparison of Asian national space programs to fuel future energy demands in Asia. All three main Asian space powers plan to send men to the Moon in the distant future and have already sent lunar probes. Japan was the first Asian country to launch a lunar probe. The Hiten (Japanese: "flying angel") spacecraft (known before the launch as MUSES-A), built by the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science of Japan, was launched on 24 January 1990. In many ways, the mission did not go as was planned. Kaguya, the second Japanese lunar orbiter spacecraft, was launched on 14 September 2007. China launched its first lunar probe,
Gill (lunar crater) pair of small craters lie along the northern rim, and Gill A intrudes slightly into the western outer rim. The interior floor is relatively level, and is marked by several craterlets. On June 11, 2009, the Japanese SELENE lunar orbiter spacecraft was deliberately crashed into the surface of the Moon to the southeast of Gill. The impact site was at selenographic coordinates 65.5 S, 80.4 E. The flash from the impact was successfully observed from Mount Abu Observatory in Guru Shikhar, India. and by the Anglo-Australian Telescope. By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter