Hiten
Encyclopedia : H : HI : HIT : Hiten
The Hiten spacecraft (known before launch as Muses-A), built by the Institute of Space and Aeronautical Science of Japan, was launched on January 24, 1990. The spacecraft entered a circumlunar orbit and released a small orbiter, Hagoromo, into lunar orbit. The transmitter on Hagoromo failed, rendering it scientifically useless, but the orbit insertion burn was verified optically. The only scientific instrument on Hiten was the Munich Dust Counter (MDC). The MDC provided data on the dust environment between the earth and the moon until April 10, 1993 when Hiten was intentionally crashed into the lunar surface between the craters Stevinus and Furnerius. Hiten was the first lunar probe originating from a country other than the United States or the Soviet Union.
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