Front Page, Headline, Industry News

Fujinon lenses brave space to explore lunar landscape

When the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched its lunar orbit satellite, “Kaguya” from the country’s Tanegashima Space Center, three satellite optics lenses developed by Fujinon were aboard to provide high quality, high definition images transmitted back to the space center for evaluation.

Kaguya’s year-long mission began in September and will attempt to discover the moon’s origin and evolution. Throughout the year, the mission will include 15 separate tasks during which scientific observations will be recorded about the moon’s landform, its mineral distribution and the surface structure.

The lenses are mounted on the expedition’s three major imaging equipment pieces which document the moon’s terrain and surrounding environment. A terrain camera photographs the moon landform in stereoscopic vision or 3-D. A multi-band imager focuses on variations in wavelengths and differences in the moon’s surface color to explore lunar rock distribution. A high definition camera records the rising of the earth over the moon’s horizon.

Fujinon lenses had to meet strict requirements to be selected for this mission. The high level of vibration of the satellite launch alone tested the lenses, as well as the exposure to radiation during space flight. The company has developed and manufactured a variety of lenses for use on JAXA satellites, such as the advanced land observing satellite “Daichi” and the earth resources satellite “Fuyo.”

<Font size=1>Source: TNSC press release</font>