Hinotori (satellite)

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Hinotori
Hinotori - ASTRO-A.svg
NamesAstro-A
Mission typeAstronomy
Operator ISAS
COSPAR ID 1981-017A OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
SATCAT no. 12307
Spacecraft properties
BOL mass 185 kilograms (408 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date21 February 1981, 00:30:00 (1981-02-21UTC00:30Z) UTC [1]
Rocket Mu-3S
Launch siteMu Pad, Kagoshima
ContractorISAS
End of mission
Decay date11 July 1991 (1991-07-12)
Orbital parameters
Reference system Geocentric
Regime Low Earth
Eccentricity 0.00395
Perigee altitude 548 kilometres (341 mi)
Apogee altitude 603 kilometres (375 mi)
Inclination 31.3 degrees
Period 96.2 minutes
Epoch 21 February 1981, 04:30:00 UTC [2]
 

Hinotori, also known as ASTRO-A before launch, was a Japanese X-ray astronomy satellite. It was developed by the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS). Its primary mission was to study of solar flares emanating from the Sun during the solar maximum. [3] It was launched successfully on February 21, 1981 using a M-3S rocket as the vehicle from Uchinoura Space Center (known at the time as Kagoshima). After the start of normal operation, it observed a large solar flare and, a month later, succeeded in observing 41 flares of many sizes from the Sun. It reentered the atmosphere on July 11, 1991. [4] The name Hinotori is the Japanese word for Phoenix.

Contents

Instruments

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References

  1. JAXA, "Catalogue of ISAS Missions" Archived 2014-12-31 at the Wayback Machine ; retrieved 2014-12-23.
  2. "NASA - NSSDCA - Spacecraft - Trajectory Details". nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  3. Gunter's Space Page, "Astro A (Hinotori)"; retrieved 2014-12-23.
  4. ISAS, "Solar Observation HINOTORI (ASTRO-A)"; retrieved 2014-12-23.