Space 1999: "Japan probe delayed"

[Taro Toporific]

Japanese Lunar Probe Facing DelaysAssociated Press / 11 August 2004 04:41 pm ET
TOKYO --A lunar orbiter that Japan had planned to launch this year could face further delays, possibly until next year or later, because of a funding shortfall and problems developing the probe's information-gathering capabilities, Japan's space agency said Wednesday....
Japan's space program has been plagued by the unreliability of its main H-2A launch vehicle, which has forced the agency to redirect funding and staff away from other projects.
Last year Japan said it was delaying a larger-scale lunar exploration project dubbed Selene from 2005 until 2006 to investigate why an H-2A rocket carrying two Japanese spy satellites veered off course and had to be destroyed by mission controllers in November. Last December, Japan abandoned its troubled mission to Mars....
The probe was first scheduled to be launched in 1999 but the date has since be postponed

[Buraku]

[homesweethome]

The Moon is heading into a black sun. It's huge, it has a tremendous gravitational attraction, and it pulls everything into itself, even light. Koenig decides that six people in an Eagle might hold better chances of survival than those on Alpha. Helena is one of the six who are assembled in the team that is sent away from the Moon. Koenig stays on the Moonbase, which is drawn into the black mass. And though, after a strange, cosmic experience, those on Moonbase survives, they are still seperated from the others, but where is the Eagle with Helena and the five other specially chosen occupants?

Synopsis
Alpha detects a nearby asteroid and monitors it to insure it won't collide with the base. It is determined that it will miss the Moon, but suddenly changes course right towards Alpha. It changes course again, at the last possible moment, and is destroyed by an unknown force.

Astronaut Mike Ryan is sent to investigate the phenomena. His Eagle is pulled into it moments before Bergman's calculations prove it to be a black sun. When he arrives in Main Mission to warn Koenig of the danger, it is too late.

Unbelievably, the Moon has changed course and is being drawn into the black sun, an object with a gravitational field so strong nothing can escape it, not even light. As it slowly saps their power, they must figure a way to survive it's destructive forces.

Bergman comes up with the idea for a forcefield that will use the force of the black sun to protect Alpha. Koenig orders all the atomic engines from the Eagles to be used to power the field generators.

To demonstrate the abilities of the force field, Koenig and Bergman go out in spacesuits, and have Alan fire an Eagles laser at them with only the forcefield to protect them. This display is a success with everyone but Helena.

Koenig explains to her that the test was only to boost morale, that realistically, their chances of surviving the black sun were slim. He also tells her that he saved one Eagle to use as a life boat, so that a select few could survive.

After the computer selects the team with the highest probability of survival, the Eagle is launched, and heads away from Alpha, the black sun, and danger. Among the team are Alan, Helena and Sandra.

With only enough power left to run the forcefield, the rest of the Alphans have little to do but await their fates. As Koenig and bergman sit in an empty Main Mission, they become transparent when the Moon enters the black sun.
They age suddenly and communicate telepathically as their awarenes of the universe grows. They encounter a being (God?) who thinks a thought every thousand years, but before they can talk at length, they have passed through the black sun unharmed.

As amazed as the the Alphans are at their survival, their thoughts are now with the comrades they sent away. How could they possibly hope to ever see them again?

Sounds like a very Japaneasy story line to me.

[Taro Toporific]

Sounds like a very Japaneasy story line to me.

The problem is it's now seven years after 1999, and I'm still waiting for a Message from Moonbase Alpha.

[Mulboyne]

The problem is it's now seven years after 1999, and I'm still waiting for a Message from Moonbase Alpha.

They are sending someone to find out what happened.

[Greji]

The problem is it's now seven years after 1999, and I'm still waiting for a Message from Moonbase Alpha.

Ahh, Alpha to Taro, come in please? Oto nagai imasu? Taro you there?

MOONBASE ALPHA YORI

[homesweethome]

The problem is it's now seven years after 1999, and I'm still waiting for a Message from Moonbase Alpha.

I did the best I could, but being your twin brother ( even after being separated at birth) and even without a haircut, was just too much of a handy-capp!

By the way I almost forgot, the message from MBA to you was:
Mother always liked you best anyway.

[Buraku]

Lifting The Darkness On Japan's Next Spy Satellite
http://www.spacedaily.com
At some time in 2007, Japan plans to launch its next spy satellite. In keeping with previous form, almost nothing has been said or revealed about the upcoming launch. It's somewhat ironic that this radar-imaging satellite, which has the capability to see in the dark, is itself surrounded by the darkness of a communications blackout. How much can we see through the veil of secrecy? It's possible to make some educated guesses about Japan's latest intelligence tool.

[Greji]

almost nothing has been said or revealed about the upcoming launch.

I wonder if they will be using the same destruct system?