Sakigake

Last updated

Sakigake
Sakigake.gif
Artist's rendering of the Sakigake spacecraft
Mission type Halley flyby
Operator ISAS
COSPAR ID 1985-001A OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
SATCAT no. 15464
Mission duration14 years and 1 day
Spacecraft properties
Launch mass138.1 kilograms (304 lb) [1]
Start of mission
Launch dateJanuary 7, 1985, 19:27 (1985-01-07UTC19:27Z) UTC
Rocket Mu-3SII
Launch site Kagoshima
End of mission
Last contactData: November 15, 1995 (1995-11-16)
Beacon: January 8, 1999
Orbital parameters
Reference system Heliocentric
Perihelion altitude 0.92 AU
Aphelion altitude 1.15 AU
Inclination 0.07 degrees
Period 382.8 days
Flyby of 1P/Halley
Closest approachMarch 11, 1986, 04:18 UTC
Distance6,990,000 kilometres (4,340,000 mi)
  Vega 2
Giotto  

Sakigake ( さきがけ , lit.'pioneer', 'pathfinder'), known before launch as MS-T5, was Japan's first interplanetary spacecraft and the first deep space probe to be launched by any country other than the US or the Soviet Union. It aimed to demonstrate the performance of the new launch vehicle, test its ability to escape from Earth gravity, and observe the interplanetary medium and magnetic field. Sakigake was also supposed to act as a frame of reference for data received from probes that flew closer to Halley's Comet. Early measurements would be used to improve the mission of the Suisei probe launched several months later.

Contents

Sakigake was developed by the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science for the National Space Development Agency (both of which are now part of the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA). It became a part of the Halley Armada together with Suisei, the Soviet Vega probes, the ESA Giotto and the NASA International Cometary Explorer, to explore Halley's Comet during its 1986 sojourn through the inner Solar System.

Design

Unlike its twin Suisei, it carried no imaging instruments in its instrument payload.

Launch

Sakigake was launched January 7, 1985, from Kagoshima Space Center by M-3SII launch vehicle on M-3SII-1 mission.

Halley encounter

It carried out a flyby of Halley's Comet on March 11, 1986, at a distance of 6.99 million km.

Giacobini-Zinner encounter

There were plans for the spacecraft to go on to an encounter with 21P/Giacobini-Zinner in 1998, but the flyby had to be abandoned because of a lack of propellant.

End of mission

Telemetry contact was lost on November 15, 1995, though a beacon signal continued to be received until January 7, 1999. [2] [3]

Related Research Articles

<i>Deep Space 1</i> NASA flyby mission to asteroid Braille and Comet Borrelly (1998–2001)

Deep Space 1 (DS1) was a NASA technology demonstration spacecraft which flew by an asteroid and a comet. It was part of the New Millennium Program, dedicated to testing advanced technologies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mariner program</span> NASA space program from 1962 to 1973

The Mariner program was conducted by the American space agency NASA to explore other planets. Between 1962 and late 1973, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) designed and built 10 robotic interplanetary probes named Mariner to explore the inner Solar System – visiting the planets Venus, Mars and Mercury for the first time, and returning to Venus and Mars for additional close observations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pioneer program</span> Series of United States uncrewed lunar and planetary space probes (1958-60; 1965-92)

The Pioneer programs were two series of United States lunar and planetary space probes exploration. The first program, which ran from 1958 to 1960, unsuccessfully attempted to send spacecraft to orbit the Moon, successfully sent one spacecraft to fly by the Moon, and successfully sent one spacecraft to investigate interplanetary space between the orbits of Earth and Venus. The second program, which ran from 1965 to 1992, sent four spacecraft to measure interplanetary space weather, two to explore Jupiter and Saturn, and two to explore Venus. The two outer planet probes, Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11, became the first two of five artificial objects to achieve the escape velocity that will allow them to leave the Solar System, and carried a golden plaque each depicting a man and a woman and information about the origin and the creators of the probes, in case any extraterrestrials find them someday.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Space exploration</span> Exploration of space, planets, and moons

Space exploration is the use of astronomy and space technology to explore outer space. While the exploration of space is currently carried out mainly by astronomers with telescopes, its physical exploration is conducted both by uncrewed robotic space probes and human spaceflight. Space exploration, like its classical form astronomy, is one of the main sources for space science.

<i>Giotto</i> (spacecraft) European mission to comets Halley and Grigg–Skjellerup (1985–1992)

Giotto was a European robotic spacecraft mission from the European Space Agency. The spacecraft flew by and studied Halley's Comet and in doing so became the first spacecraft to make close up observations of a comet. On 13 March 1986, the spacecraft succeeded in approaching Halley's nucleus at a distance of 596 kilometers. It was named after the Early Italian Renaissance painter Giotto di Bondone. He had observed Halley's Comet in 1301 and was inspired to depict it as the star of Bethlehem in his painting Adoration of the Magi in the Scrovegni Chapel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vega program</span> 1985 Soviet space program with the first balloon flight on Venus

The Vega program was a series of Venus missions that also took advantage of the appearance of comet 1P/Halley in 1986. Vega 1 and Vega 2 were uncrewed spacecraft launched in a cooperative effort among the Soviet Union and Austria, Bulgaria, France, Hungary, the German Democratic Republic, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and the Federal Republic of Germany in December 1984. They had a two-part mission to investigate Venus and also flyby Halley's Comet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vega 2</span> Soviet mission to Venus and Halleys Comet (1984–1987)

Vega 2 was a Soviet space probe part of the Vega program to explore Halley's comet and Venus. The spacecraft was a development of the earlier Venera craft. The name VeGa (ВеГа) combines the first two letters of the Russian words for Venus and Halley. They were designed by Babakin Space Centre and constructed as 5VK by Lavochkin at Khimki. The craft was powered by large twin solar panels. Instruments included an antenna dish, cameras, spectrometer, infrared sounder, magnetometers (MISCHA) and plasma probes. The 4,840 kilograms (10,670 lb) craft was launched on top of a Proton-K from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Tyuratam, Kazakh SSR. Both Vega 1 and 2 were three-axis stabilized spacecraft. The spacecraft were equipped with a dual bumper shield for dust protection from Halley's Comet.

<i>Nozomi</i> (spacecraft) Failed Japanese orbiter mission to Mars (1998–2003)

Nozomi was a Japanese Mars orbiter that failed to reach Mars due to electrical failure. It was constructed by the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, University of Tokyo and launched on July 4, 1998, at 03:12 JST with an on-orbit dry mass of 258 kg and 282 kg of propellant. The Nozomi mission was terminated on December 31, 2003.

<i>Suisei</i> (spacecraft) Japanese flyby mission to Halleys Comet (1985–1991)

Suisei, originally known as Planet-A, was an uncrewed space probe developed by the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Comet Rendezvous Asteroid Flyby</span> Cancelled NASA mission to explore Comet 22P/Kopff

The Comet Rendezvous Asteroid Flyby (CRAF) was a cancelled plan for a NASA-led exploratory mission designed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory during the mid-to-late 1980s and early 1990s, that planned to send a spacecraft to encounter an asteroid, and then to rendezvous with a comet and fly alongside it for nearly three years. The project was eventually canceled when it went over budget; most of the money still left was redirected to its twin spacecraft, Cassini–Huygens, destined for Saturn, so it could survive Congressional budget cutbacks. Most of CRAF's scientific objectives were later accomplished by the smaller NASA spacecraft Stardust and Deep Impact, and by ESA's flagship Rosetta mission.

Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, or ISAS, is a Japanese national research organization of astrophysics using rockets, astronomical satellites and interplanetary probes which played a major role in Japan's space development. Established as part of the University of Tokyo in 1964, the institute spun off from the university to come under direct purview of the Ministry of Education. Since 2003, it is a division of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Cometary Explorer</span> NASA satellite of the Explorer program

The International Cometary Explorer (ICE) spacecraft, designed and launched as the International Sun-Earth Explorer-3 (ISEE-3) satellite, was launched on 12 August 1978 into a heliocentric orbit. It was one of three spacecraft, along with the mother/daughter pair of ISEE-1 and ISEE-2, built for the International Sun-Earth Explorer (ISEE) program, a joint effort by NASA and ESRO/ESA to study the interaction between the Earth's magnetic field and the solar wind.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Halley Armada</span> Space probes

The Halley Armada is the name of a series of space probes, five of which were successful, sent to examine Halley's Comet during its 1986 sojourn through the inner Solar System, connected with apparition "1P/1982 U1". The armada included one probe from the European Space Agency, two probes that were joint projects between the Soviet Union and France and two probes from the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science in Japan. Notably, NASA did not contribute a probe to the Halley Armada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outline of space exploration</span> Overview of and topical guide to space exploration

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to space exploration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flyby (spaceflight)</span> Flight event at some distance from the object

A flyby is a spaceflight operation in which a spacecraft passes in proximity to another body, usually a target of its space exploration mission and/or a source of a gravity assist to impel it towards another target. Spacecraft which are specifically designed for this purpose are known as flyby spacecraft, although the term has also been used in regard to asteroid flybys of Earth for example. Important parameters are the time and distance of closest approach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DESTINY+</span> Planned asteroid flyby mission by JAXA, using solar electric propulsion

DESTINY+ (Demonstration and Experiment of Space Technology for INterplanetary voYage with Phaethon fLyby and dUst Science) is a planned mission to fly by the Geminids meteor shower parent body 3200 Phaethon, and sample dust originating from the "rock comet". The spacecraft is being developed by the Japanese space agency JAXA and will demonstrate advanced technologies for future deep space exploration. As of October 2024, DESTINY+ is planned to be launched in fiscal year 2028.

References

  1. "Sakigake" (PDF). NASA. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
  2. "Sakigake - Japan ISAS Halley's Comet Mission Sakigake". Space.about.com. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved February 1, 2010.
  3. "Sakigake – NASA Master Catalog". Nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov. Retrieved February 1, 2010.