If only they had pointed the camera down at the surface, thus dispelling the ludicrous "man walks on moon" myth that has been circulating since the 1960s.

Or alternatively they might find Tangerine Dream's mojo, sitting on the moon, having become lost and adrift from the band since 1981 or so.

I choose Paris Hilton as my avatar, because it is a myth that men have walked on her.

It may well have been filmed with an HD camera but what is the point if your going to compress the footage so heavily that you may as well have just strapped on a camera phone instead?

It's a shame there's no audio on these videos, I'd really like to hear the Clangers for real!

(Nobody can hear you getting your coat in space)

"I choose Paris Hilton as my avatar, because it is a myth that men have walked on her."

Ah, you wrote 'walked' - sorry, I mis-read that for a second.

Forget that though, where's the iPhone angle?

... Awe inspiring...

That's a rather strange effect. I suppose it must be because the moon's surface is brighter at the top-left of the image, which the brain interprets to mean the illumination is coming from that angle. In fact, it is coming from bottom right. It's only when that bright patch moves out of view that the image resolves itself.

Weird.

... slashdotted, but this is The Register.

Is it me or does the first video look like a badly made home movie. The curve of the moon looks like it has had a bad photoshop mask appiled and I can only presume that the stars were on holiday. And what's with all the noodles over the film at the beginning there...

I do believe that there is a crater called the "De Gas-paris" on the moon. Hence the avatar.

Shut up, you moron - if you want better quality, why don't you launch your own camera-equipped space probe instead of moaning about other people's?

Personally, I think that they've done a great job getting this and putting it online, when I'm quite sure it has no real scientific or industrial worth. They could just as easily not have bothered.

"If only they had pointed the camera down at the surface, thus dispelling the ludicrous "man walks on moon" myth that has been circulating since the 1960s."

Look!! No stars!

... and those shadows look a bit iffy too.

It is a high resolution image NOT a high dynamic range image. The stars are there, they are just too dim to render in such a bright scene.

The audio has been removed because of the copyright issues involved in playing "Also sprach Zarathustra"!

PS: I could swear I saw a Godzilla footprint there!

Beggars can't be choosers, but do they really mean HD? If so, where is the 1080p video file? They should share it with NASA, which has a pretty good media system. From there to NASA mirrors and torrent sites. The Japanese people, and maybe some western aid money labeled "JAXA" paid for this probe, anyway, so at least they should have access to it.

wft?

...of the un-web compressed file. I know they're trying to make it so that millions of folks can view it streaming. I'd buy the DVD and set it to run constantly as background.

With some really good orchestra, they could do one hell of a commercial release of various footage and a stirring soundtrack.

Er, how many natural satellites do we have?

@anonymous john - i think you forgot the people who happened to miss earth when they fell.

dont ask:

http://www.qi.com/talk/viewtopic.php?p=178988&highlight=moons+earth#178988

it is the new rule 8.

"They should share it with NASA, which has a pretty good media system."

Yes, but they have no sense of art, beauty or wonder.

NASA footage is dreary, balnd, and almost completely lacking in the sense of majesty you bloody well expect to get from space.

At least JAXA is taking the time out to film 'frivolous' stuff like Earthrise.

And as for my own probe around the moon - bloody hell yes I want want. Frankly I expected to be able to drive RC cars on the moon by now.

And for moon-hoaxers (even if you're joking) - F--- off and bloody worship something, would you?

(not the Moon, but will do)

Utterly beautiful, specially the second one, zoomed in. Thanks for the heads up, Reg.

The shuffle on my computer started playing Strauss' "Voices of Spring" just as I was starting to see the movies. Perfect. :-)

Playing fine here (Firefox 2.0.0.8, Flash 9, Kubuntu 7.10)

Did NOT want to play at work in the morning (same setup, except it's SuSE 9.2, where Flash things have usually been a bit fickle for me), did not show the player interface. But it might have been traffic at the time...

Quit your whining.

Queue Also sprach Zarathustra by Richard Strauss mentally or over your speakers.

It's got 3 2.2MP cameras on it:

http://www.selene.jaxa.jp/en/equipment/hdtv_e.htm

So is capable of HD images. Guess they just scaled them for SDTV news reports. Silly gaijins and their low def broadcasting.

Oh dear, another moron who thinks the moon landings were a conspiracy!

Advice: Get a clue!

"Oh dear, another moron who thinks the moon landings were a conspiracy!

Advice: Get a clue!"

Oh dear another moron who can't detect sarcasm.

Advice: Get a girlfriend!

..the man in the Earth!

yes..no..wait...no, it's just the FSM again :(

Please, please JAXA team, orbit the original 1960's moon landing spot, zoom in and trash those stupid "moon landing hoax" hoaxers. At least that is a conspiracy theory that can be shot down with current technology ;)

The "bumpy moon" optical effect has to do with the lighting angle, I had read about it on M.C. Escher's paintings, and they specifically made comments on the moon photos having this effect. It's nice to finally see this effect on video!!!

AI am of the opinion that those seeking confirmation from the real/virtual/semantic web of their beliefs/fears/AIntellect that any view can be expressed and receive recognition. Is this not the beauty of the Virtual Existence of the Cyberworld? IT is how we SMART2 humans will Advance, Adapt, and .... ah crap, I give up. AmanfromMars is infinitely better at this than I am.

Haven't heard from that psychotic pseudo-spambot in a while - what happened to him/her/it?