Mission record
Hiten
Also known as Muses-A
Institute of Space and Aeronautical Science, U of Tokyo · Launched
Explore trajectoryCompleted · Success
A Japanese engineering mission that tested lunar swingbys and aerobraking, released the small Hagoromo spacecraft, and later entered lunar orbit. Hagoromo’s intended lunar orbit could not be confirmed after its transmitter failed.
- Destinations
- Launch vehicle
- M-3SII
- Launch site
- Uchinoura Space Center, Japan
- Countries
- Japan
- Mission types
- Flyby, Orbiter
Chronology
Mission timeline
Launch
Hiten launched from Kagoshima Space Center into a highly elliptical Earth orbit
Loss of contact
Hagoromo’s transmitter failed while it was still carried by Hiten
Milestone
Hagoromo’s motor ignition was observed optically from Earth; orbital capture remained unconfirmed
MoonMilestone
Hiten flew into the Earth's upper atmosphere at 125.5 km, the first use of aerobraking near escape velocity
EarthImpact
Hiten was crashed into the lunar surface
The page gives two different impact times and locations, citing Uesugi 1996: 18:03:25.7 UT at 34.0 S, 55.3 E, and 18:08:45 UT at 34.3 S, 55.6 E. The event is recorded at day precision rather than choosing between them.
Moon
Mission architecture
Vehicles
Trajectory record
Time-dependent navigation trajectory
Source states place the model at the selected time. Reconstructed flight, estimates, predictions and historical mission plans are identified by interval; gaps remain visible.
Source records and sampling assumptions are retained with the repository data. Model attitude and surface appearance are illustrative.
- Hiten: Physically reconstructed based on publicly available data · bounded 90-minute Hiten state coast from an ISAS OD solution · January 24, 1990 to January 24, 1990
Provenance
Sources
Each source is listed once and labeled with the mission, event, trajectory, or destination/body context it supports.
Data verified through September 13, 2026
- Hiten - NASA NSSDCA Master Catalog — NSSDCAMission page · Supports: mission claims · event claims
- DARTS Hiten tracking archive and CCSDS TDM documentation — JAXATechnical document · Supports: mission claims
- ISAS MUSES-A experimental plan, original hardware and navigation system — JAXATechnical document · Supports: mission claims
- DARTS Hiten raw telemetry archive — JAXATechnical document · Supports: mission claims
- JAXA Usuda antenna coordinates and site-motion model — JAXATechnical document · Supports: mission claims
- CCSDS 503.0-B-2: Tracking Data Message — OTHERTechnical document · Supports: mission claims
- NASA current Hiten and Hagoromo flight and hardware record — NSSDCAMission page · Supports: mission claims · event claims
- DARTS Hiten TDM dataset description — JAXAArchive · Supports: mission claims
- MUSES-A Hiten orbit and ISSOP orbit-determination program — JAXATechnical document · Supports: mission claims
- DE421 lunar mean-Earth and principal-axes frame specification — NAIFTechnical document · Supports: destination/body context
- DE440 lunar mean-Earth and principal-axes frame specification — NAIFSpice · Supports: destination/body context
- IAU rotational elements and body radii (PCK 00011) — NAIFSpice · Supports: destination/body context
- LOLA global lunar height maps, LDEM_4 V3 original PDS source label — NASATechnical document · Supports: destination/body context
- LOLA 2023 south-polar elevation, uncertainty and effective-resolution maps — NASATechnical document · Supports: destination/body context
- Blue Ghost Lunar Lander Seen From Above: LROC site and terrain context — NASATechnical document · Supports: destination/body context
- Moon Facts — NASAOther · Supports: destination/body context
- SLDEM2015 Blue Ghost region: original PDS elevation-grid label — NASATechnical document · Supports: destination/body context
- JPL Solar System Dynamics Astrodynamic Parameters — JPLOther · Supports: destination/body context
- Planet Sizes and Locations in Our Solar System — NASAOther · Supports: destination/body context