J. Haruyama

Development of a visible and near infrared spectrometer for Selenological and Engineering Explorer(SELENE)

Although the Moon has been investigated from the Earth, manned Apollo program, and numerous unmanned spacecraft including latest Clementine and Lunar Prospector, unresolved issues on the origin and evolution of the Moon still exist. To find clues or hopefully answers to these issues, Japan will send, to the Moon, an orbiting spacecraft called Selenological and Engineering Explore (SELENE) equipped with a suite of state-of-the-art mission instruments. Spectral Profiler (SP) is one of the instrument onboard SELENE, and will obtain 0.5-2.6 micrometers continuous reflectance spectra of the lunar surface just below SELENE with 500 m swath. As major minerals on the Moon, pyroxene, olivine, and feldspar, have diagnostic spectral features in this spectral region, SPs spectra will provide us information on mineral/rock distributions on the Moon surface globally. Such information from SP will, in combination with other instruments, clarify elemental/compositional characteristics of the lunar surface. This will contribute so much to depict a clear picture of the origin and the evolution of the Moon. To accomplish these scientific goals, engineering issues such as performance requirements and calibration procedures were discussed intensively and comprehensively among SP scientists and engineers. And based on such discussions, the basic instrument design of SP was determined and PM development was started in FY 1998. In FY 1999 and 2000, PM testings are being conducted. FM design will start in late- 2000. In the presentation, current status of SP development will be reported together with background information on SELENE, SP, and the science of the Moon.

Scientific exploration of lunar surface using a rover in Japanese future lunar mission

Abstract A new lunar mission (SELENE-B) including a lander is now in consideration in Japan. The mission will follow up SELENE (SELenological and ENgineering Explorer, a global remote sensing mission of the moon in 2004). Scientific investigation plans using a rover are proposed: exploration of a crater central peak to discover subsurface materials and exploration of the polar region to discover the trapped ice. We have already developed a 5-wheel engineering-model rover, Micro5, which has a long manipulator with a camera on top. The rover can climb over 15cm steps and rocks by a new suspension system PEGASUS.

Mission to Europa's sub-surface ocean and search for possible biological traces

Recent close encounters to Europa, a giant Jovian satellite, by the Galileo spacecraft reenforced the hypothesis that there might exist a liquid ocean of H2O in Europa. It can be assumed that Europa, like the Earth, has biological systems under its sub surface ocean, and that marine organisms consume chemical nutrients released by geological activities even though there is no sunlight. The purpose of this paper is to introduce conceptual and feasibility studies of a spacecraft mission to explore Europas hypothetical sub-surface ocean. In this paper, we present possible searches for the possible biological evidence through the observation of traces. We analyze the scientific rationale, the methodology and the instrumentation of our investigation held in this mission. The designs of spacecraft and mission profile is also reviewed.