Japanese "Kaguya" Satellite Crashes Into The Moon, Send Back Final Footage (VIDEO)

***UPDATE*** Readers have pointed out that this is a rendered video reconstructing in 3-D, based on the observation date the satellite sent back minutes before it crashed, the flight's final moments. This post has been amended to reflect that.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has released the final footage shot by its Kaguya satellite right before it crashed into the dark side of the moon. The gorgeously rendered video reconstructs the flight's final moments before it crashed

The Examiner reports that "the "Kaguya" orbiter struck the Moon at an estimated 6,000 kilometers per hour or 3,728 miles per hour."

Watch the film below and the press release from JAXA is below the video, as well as pictures the satellite sent back of its final moments.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and the Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK) would like to release the final still images taken by the onboard High Definition Television (HDTV) of the lunar explorer "KAGUYA" just prior to its maneuvered falling to the Moon. The images are attached below. The KAGUYA was launched on September 14, 2007, and was controlled to be dropped to the Moon on June 11, 2009, as its mission was completed.

The series of continued shots was taken with an interval of about one minute by the HDTV (Teltephoto) while the KAGUYA was maneuvered to decrease its altitude toward the impact position (around GILL crater.)

We can see the approaching Moon surface as the KAGUYA went closer to it. After the final image, the KAGUYA moved into the shaded area to make its final landing, thus it was pitch dark while taking an image. This is the very final image shooting of the Moon by the KAGUYA HDTV.

You can enjoy images taken by the KAGUYA HDTV through JAXA Digital Archives, the KAGUYA Image Gallery, and the JAXA channel on YouTube.

Comments

[RaisingAwareness]

It takes about 3 days to get to the moon from Earth and since we already have craft in space, only about 2. We made it in 3 in 1969 so I'm sure we can do better today. Is it such an absurd request to go take a look at the moon from a closer distance? We don't even have to land.

[sdfalconer]

Wait... did I just see Gamera?

[AmericaninIndia]

Congratulations to the Japanese for entering the 1960s!

[buzzy]

2050...wor­ld war.....ja­pan strikes first with an assault on US satellites in space from the moon...

[audeo03]

That's a pretty moronic scenario..­.

[groot]

it's final message was "what the?"

[blytzd]

Oh my god its full of...

[mjeffn]

The Japanese inferiority complex is so extreme that their satellite crashed into the moon. The moon would have crashed into one of NASA's.

[grammargirl]

The Japanese do not have an inferiority complex. They still think Westerners are barbarians.

[mykebee]

Tape a POV cam to my head, feed me 5 Long Island iced teas and I'll produce the same vid for less than five bucks on my way to the men's room!

[NoblesseOblige]

This sort of brings me back to Rod Serling's "Twilight Zone". It doesn't get any better than that. I'm ready to go back to real science fiction as it was meant to be.

[jsarets]

In related news, NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) successfully injected itself into low lunar orbit last night, five days after being launched along with its sister payload, the Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS), on a ULA (Lockheed/Boeing) Atlas V launch vehicle.

LRO will produce the best-ever 3D mapping of the lunar surface in several wavelengths and scout potential sites for future manned outposts. On October 9, LCROSS will look for water in the ejecta plume from the Centaur upper stage impacting a permanently shadowed crater near the lunar south pole.

LRO and LCROSS are the first steps in NASA's Vision for Space Exploration (VSE) that will once again send humans beyond earth orbit to the moon, near earth objects, and eventually mars. They will tell us where to land and what resources we'll find when we get there.

Viking explorers landed on the New World hundreds of years before Europeans would return to establish colonies. Flags and footprints weren't enough to prompt the development of practical transoceanic ships. But with colonies, merchants could make a fortune by hauling goods.

There must be a destination before the transportation can become practical. We used an impractical vehicle to build the first real destination in space. But the ISS creates demand for transportation that opens commercial markets and drives down costs.

It easy to make money in space. All we have to do is send people to live there.

[Ryoki]

This is good to see. Why waste time and money killing each other when we've got this great big universe to play with is beyond me. Explore and learn.

[SarcasticFringehead]

You've just written the most intelligent thing that I've read in a very long time.

[DemocratNat]

Agreed!

[chitown8]

I agree great post.

[grammargirl]

Such a pity we're surrounded by the deluded who actually want the the world to end to validate their religions, and will do everything in the power to hasten the predicted apocalypse. But I will be as optimistic as was Gene Roddenberry, and look to the youth for answers. They are trying to shape the world for themselves, and we should let them.

[euthman]

Hear, hear!

[DCinFrance]

With what we spent, we could be dancing on Mars.

[stanschurman]

I think I caught a glimpse of John McCain's brain, or maybe it was just a moon rock..same density.

[stanschurman]

Have to say, the resolution is far better than during the 1969 moon landing. It's those Japanese lenses I guess.

[Mormon4Truth]

More trash on the moon. Pretty soon it will be fit for human habitation!

[crispee]

This was cool... back when we saw it in '69

[LetsBeFairHere]

You can't fool me. I saw Capricorn One. I know this is all faked.