Kaguya Will Impact the Moon on June 10

By Nancy Atkinson - June 09, 2009 06:10 PM UTC | Planetary Science

The Japanese lunar orbiter Kaguya will end its two-year mission with a controlled impact on the Moon's surface on June 10th at 18:30 Universal Time. The impact location is near the southeast limb at 80ºE, 63ºS. If you live in Asia and Australia, you may have the opportunity to observe the impact event, and the Japanese Space Agency –JAXA – wants to hear from you if you plan on watching for the impact. The event may be visible with a bright flash or plume. JAXA is making available precise information on the projected time and location of the event. If you are interested in observing the impact, contact JAXA at [email protected] and provide your name, location, and planned observation method.

For more information about the event, see this article on Lunar Photo of the Day.

Here's JAXA's page on the mission.

One of the visual highlights of the Kaguya mission was a high definition "Earthrise" movie:

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Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com