Japanese Spacecraft Gets 2nd Chance at Venus - Rawan For Media Artistic and Production
The
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's (JAXA) Akatsuki probe was supposed
to begin circling Venus on Dec. 6, 2010, but its main engine conked out
during a critical orbit-insertion burn and the spacecraft went sailing
off into space. Now, the time has finally come for Akatsuki to try
again.
Akatsuki's
main engine has been declared dead. So the spacecraft will fire its
smaller attitude-control thrusters in a 20-minute burn this evening at
about 5 p.m. EST (2200 GMT; 7:00 a.m. on Dec.
MIssion controllers likely won't know for a few days whether or not today's manuever was successful, JAXA officials said.
The
$300 million Akatsuki spacecraft (whose name means "Dawn" in Japanese)
launched in May 2010 along with JAXA's IKAROS (Interplanetary Kite-craft
Accelerated by Radiation Of the Sun) probe, which became the first
craft ever to deploy and use a solar sail in deep space.
The
original plan called for Akatsuki to enter a 30-hour orbit around
Venus, and then study the planet's clouds, weather and atmosphere for at
least two years. The mission was designed to seek clues about how
Earth's "sister planet" ended up becoming so hot, and so seemingly
inhospitable to life, JAXA officials have said.
Akatsuki
should still be able to achieve most of its goals if today's maneuver
goes well, according to JAXA, but the mission will be quite different in
several key aspects.
For
example, Akatsuki will be eyeing Venus from much farther away on
average than originally planned. The highly elliptical new target orbit
has a period of eight or nine days instead of 30 hours, and will take
the probe as far away from Venus as 186,000 to 250,000 miles (300,000 to
400,000 kilometers), compared to 50,000 miles (80,000 km).
There
are currently no active spacecraft on or around the second planet from
the sun. The European Space Agency's Venus Express orbiter, the last
operational probe, ended its mission in December 2014 after eight
successful years, performing a death dive into the thick Venusian
atmosphere after exhausting its fuel supply.
Akatsuki
is Japan's second-ever interplanetary mission. The first, the Nozomi
Mars probe, failed to enter orbit around the Red Planet in 2003.
By SPACE, 18 hours 51 minutes ago
A
robotic Japanese spacecraft gets a second and final chance to orbit
Venus on (Dec. 6), exactly five years after the first attempt went awry.
robotic Japanese spacecraft gets a second and final chance to orbit
Venus on (Dec. 6), exactly five years after the first attempt went awry.
The
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's (JAXA) Akatsuki probe was supposed
to begin circling Venus on Dec. 6, 2010, but its main engine conked out
during a critical orbit-insertion burn and the spacecraft went sailing
off into space. Now, the time has finally come for Akatsuki to try
again.
Akatsuki's
main engine has been declared dead. So the spacecraft will fire its
smaller attitude-control thrusters in a 20-minute burn this evening at
about 5 p.m. EST (2200 GMT; 7:00 a.m. on Dec.
7 Japan Standard Time), the journal Nature reported on Friday (Dec. 4). [Photos of Venus, the Mysterious Planet Next Door]
MIssion controllers likely won't know for a few days whether or not today's manuever was successful, JAXA officials said.
The
$300 million Akatsuki spacecraft (whose name means "Dawn" in Japanese)
launched in May 2010 along with JAXA's IKAROS (Interplanetary Kite-craft
Accelerated by Radiation Of the Sun) probe, which became the first
craft ever to deploy and use a solar sail in deep space.
The
original plan called for Akatsuki to enter a 30-hour orbit around
Venus, and then study the planet's clouds, weather and atmosphere for at
least two years. The mission was designed to seek clues about how
Earth's "sister planet" ended up becoming so hot, and so seemingly
inhospitable to life, JAXA officials have said.
Akatsuki
should still be able to achieve most of its goals if today's maneuver
goes well, according to JAXA, but the mission will be quite different in
several key aspects.
For
example, Akatsuki will be eyeing Venus from much farther away on
average than originally planned. The highly elliptical new target orbit
has a period of eight or nine days instead of 30 hours, and will take
the probe as far away from Venus as 186,000 to 250,000 miles (300,000 to
400,000 kilometers), compared to 50,000 miles (80,000 km).
There
are currently no active spacecraft on or around the second planet from
the sun. The European Space Agency's Venus Express orbiter, the last
operational probe, ended its mission in December 2014 after eight
successful years, performing a death dive into the thick Venusian
atmosphere after exhausting its fuel supply.
Akatsuki
is Japan's second-ever interplanetary mission. The first, the Nozomi
Mars probe, failed to enter orbit around the Red Planet in 2003.
By SPACE, 18 hours 51 minutes ago
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