In 1997, Japan plans to send the Lunar A spacecraft into orbit around the Moon. Lunar A will fire three probes into the surface to study the structure of the crust and temperatures in the Moon's interior. Japan is also considering a mapping mission for 1999, to be followed by a rover to explore the Moon's dark side in the year 2000. The United States has proposed a Lunar Observer mission for 1997 to survey the Moon's surface. The data obtained by the spacecraft would allow researchers to put the localized information obtained by the Apollo missions into a larger context.
