----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** JAXA MAIL SERVICE ***
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Launch Result of ASTRO-F/M-V-8
February 22, 2006
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched the 21st
Scientific Satellite (ASTRO-F) aboard the M-V Launch Vehicle No. 8
(M-V-8) at 6:28 a.m. on February 22, 2006 (Japan Standard Time, JST)
from the Uchinoura Space Center (USC). The launcher was set to a
vertical angle of 81.5 degrees, and the flight azimuth was 143.0 degrees.
The launch vehicle flew smoothly, and after the third stage engine
burnout, it was confirmed that the satellite was safely injected into
its scheduled orbit of a perigee altitude of approximately 304 km and
an apogee altitude of approximately 733 km with an inclination of
approximately 98.2 degrees.
JAXA started receiving signals from the ASTRO-F at 6:43 a.m. at the
Perth Station, and from those signals we verified that the ASTRO-F had
successfully separated.
The in-orbit ASTRO-F was given a nickname of "Akari" (meaning a "light.")
We would like to express our appreciation for the cooperation and
support from all related personnel and organizations that helped
contribute to the successful launch of the ASTRO-F/M-V-8.
This information is also available on the following website:
ASTRO-F/M-V-8 Countdown
http://www.isas.jaxa.jp/e/countdown/index-en.shtmlThis page URL:
http://www.jaxa.jp/press/2006/02/20060222_m-v-8_e.html---------------------------------------------------------------------
Publisher : Public Affairs Department
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
Marunouchi Kitaguchi Building,
1-6-5, Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8260
Japan
TEL:+81-3-6266-6400
JAXA WEB SITE :
http://www.jaxa.jp/index_e.html----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** JAXA MAIL SERVICE ***
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Initial Operation of the 21st Scientific Satellite "Akari" (ASTRO-F)
February 22, 2006
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
The 21st Scientific Satellite "Akari" which was launched by the M-V
Launch Vehicle No. 8 from the Uchinoura Space Center at 6:28 a.m. on
February 22, 2006 (Japan Standard Time, JST), was found to be stable
in spite of a slight problem.
After its launch, the "Akari" was injected into its scheduled orbit,
and the JAXA New Ground Network (GN) Station in Perth, Australia,
started receiving data from the satellite at 6:43 a.m. (JST) Through
the data, it was confirmed that the "Akari" was successfully separated
and was in a spin mode.
The JAXA GN Station in Santiago, Chile, started receiving data at
8:48 a.m. (JST), and the satellite attitude was found to be shifted
from the spin mode to spin downed mode as scheduled. The solar array
paddle deployment and its power generation were also confirmed.
However, the solar pointing of the attitude control was not complete.
Based on our investigation, there is an unknown factor in the output
of the two-dimensional solar sensor (NSAS.) Due to this trouble, the
"Akari" has been shifted to the attitude control mode using the earth
sensor (CES) and the gyroscope (IRU) to secure the necessary power
from the solar array paddles.
It was confirmed that the power has been stably generated through the
data that was received at the JAXA GN Station in Kiruna, Sweden, since
12:44 p.m. (JST)
Currently, we are investigating the status of the two-dimensional
solar sensor (NSAS.)
The overall health condition of the "Akari", apart from the
two-dimensional solar sensor, is stable, and we do not perceive that
any problem will arise for the scheduled observation operations.
This information is also available on the following website:
ASTRO-F/M-V-8 Countdown
http://www.isas.jaxa.jp/e/countdown/index-en.shtmlThis page URL:
http://www.jaxa.jp/press/2006/02/20060222_akari-2_e.html---------------------------------------------------------------------
Publisher : Public Affairs Department
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
Marunouchi Kitaguchi Building,
1-6-5, Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8260
Japan
TEL:+81-3-6266-6400
JAXA WEB SITE :
http://www.jaxa.jp/index_e.htmlN° 05-2006 – Paris, 22 February 2006
ESA joins forces with Japan on new infrared sky surveyor
A high-capability new infrared satellite, ASTRO-F, was successfully launched
last night by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). In a collaborative
effort involving ESA and scientists across Europe, the spacecraft is now being
prepared to start its mapping of the cosmos. Orbiting the Earth, ASTRO-F (to be
renamed Akari (light) now that it is in orbit) will make an unprecedented study
of the sky in infrared light, to reveal the distant phenomena hidden from our
eyes that tell the story of the formation and evolution processes taking place
in the universe.
Prof. David Southwood, ESA’s Director of Science, said: “The successful launch
of ASTRO-F(Akari) is a big step. A decade ago, our Infrared Space Observatory
(ISO) opened up this field of astronomy, and the Japanese took part then. It is
wonderful to be cooperating again with Japan in this discipline.”
“Our involvement with the Japanese in this programme responds to our long-term
commitment in infrared astronomy, whose potential for discovery is huge. We are
now off and rolling with ASTRO-F/Akari, but we are also working extremely hard
towards the launch of the next-generation infrared telescope, ESA’s Herschel
spacecraft, which will go up in the next two years”, he continued.
“This will still not be the end of the story. Infrared astronomy is also a
fundamental part of the future vision for ESA’s space research, as outlined in
the ‘Cosmic Vision 2015-2025’
programme. The truth is, subjects such as the formation of stars and exoplanets,
or the evolution of the early universe, are themes at the very core of our
programme.”
The mission
On 21 February, at 22:28 Central European Time, (22 February, 06:28 local time),
a Japanese M-V rocket blasted off from the Uchinoura Space Centre, in the
Kagoshima district of Japan, carrying the new infrared satellite into space.
In about two weeks' time, ASTRO-F will be in polar orbit around the Earth at an
altitude of 745 kilometres. From there, after two months of system check-outs
and performance verification, it will survey the whole sky in about half a year,
with much better sensitivity, spatial resolution and wider wavelength coverage
than its only infrared surveyor predecessor, the Anglo-Dutch-US IRAS satellite
(1983).
The all-sky survey will be followed by a ten-month phase during which thousands
of selected astronomical targets will be observed in detail. This will enable
scientists to look at these individual objects for a longer time, and thus with
increased sensitivity, to conduct their spectral analysis.
This second phase will end with the depletion of the liquid helium needed to
cool down the spacecraft telescope and its instruments to only a few degrees
above absolute zero. ASTRO-F will then start its third operations phase and
continue to make observations of selected celestial targets with its infrared
camera only, in a few specific infrared wavelengths.
ESA’s involvement
Only two decades have passed since the birth of space-based infrared astronomy;
since then, each decade has been marked by the launch of innovative infrared
satellites that have revolutionised our very perception of the cosmos.
In fact, infrared satellites make possible the detection of cool objects,
including planetary systems, interstellar dust and gas, or distant galaxies, all
of which are most difficult to study in the visible part of the light spectrum.
With infrared astronomy, it is also possible to study the birth of stars and
galaxies, the ‘creation’ energy of which peaks in the infrared range.
The European Space Agency and Europe have a strong tradition in infrared
astronomy, which is now being continued by the participation of the UK, the
Netherlands and ESA in ASTRO-F. ESA is providing network support through its
ground station in Kiruna (Sweden) for a few passes per day.
ESA is also providing expertise and support for the sky-survey data processing.
This includes ‘pointing reconstruction’ – which means measuring exactly where
the observed objects are in the sky, to help accelerate the production of sky
catalogues and ultimately produce a census of the infrared universe.
In return, ESA has obtained ten percent of the observing opportunities during
the second and third operational phases of the ASTRO-F mission, which is being
allocated to European astronomers to perform their proposed observations.
“The cooperation offered to ESA by Japan in ASTRO-F will help keep up momentum
for European astronomers as they build on their past work with ISO, and look
forward to the launch of ESA’s Herschel infrared mission, in early 2008,”
commented Prof. Southwood.
With the largest and most powerful space telescope to date (3.5 metres in
diameter), Herschel will build on the ASTRO-F census of the infrared universe
and on the legacy left by other satellites such as ESA’s ISO and NASA’s Spitzer.
It will reveal the deepest secrets of galaxies and of star formation and
evolution, while also studying the chemistry of the cold, hidden cosmos.
Note for editors
ASTRO-F is the result of a truly international effort. It was developed by the
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (ISAS/JAXA), with the participation of Nagoya
University, the University of Tokyo, the National Institute of Information &
Communications Technology and other Japanese universities and institutes.
Including South Korea, the project also draws on the involvement of ESA and a
consortium of UK universities (Imperial College, London, the Open University,
the University of Sussex) funded by the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research
Council (PPARC), as well as the Netherlands Institute for Space Research and
Groningen University (NL).
ESA’s ground-station support will be managed by the European Space Operations
Centre (ESOC). ESA’s European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC) is in charge of
pointing reconstruction and user support for European open time observations.
ASTRO-F is carrying onboard a cooled telescope with an approx. 70 centimetre
aperture. It is also equipped with two instruments: the Far-Infrared Surveyor
(FIS) and the Infrared Camera (IRC). Together, they will make possible an
all-sky survey in six infrared wavelengths. These instruments will also perform
detailed photometric and spectroscopic observation of selected astronomical
targets over the 2–180 micrometre wavelength range in 13 bands.
During the survey, ASTRO-F will provide a complete infrared map of our galaxy
with its stellar nurseries, which are only observable in infrared because their
visible light is obscured by the dust in which they are embedded.
ASTRO-F will also detect dead stars in the solar neighbourhood and failed stars
known as "brown dwarfs", emitting their dim light in the infrared. It will also
search for planetary systems within a distance of 1,000 light years from our sun
and will enable scientists to study their formation from the discs of dust and
gas in which the ‘protoplanets’ are enshrouded.
It is expected that the all-sky survey alone will detect about a million
galaxies. ASTRO-F will also trace the large-scale structure of the universe,
observe its most luminous objects which are rapidly moving away from us and
observe star formation in nearby and distant galaxies.
During selected observations, ASTRO-F will provide comprehensive,
multi-wavelength coverage of a wide variety of radio sources, such as solar
system asteroids, brown dwarf stars, debris discs and stars in our and other
close-by galaxies; it will also study many extragalactic sources.
The response from European astronomers to the call for observing proposals
issued by ESA over the available observing time (10%) has been overwhelming.
Fifty proposals were received from 42 different principal investigators from 32
institutes in nine European countries.
For more information, please contact:
ESA – Communication Department
Media Relations Office
Tel: +33 (0)1.53.69.71.55
Fax: +33 (0)1.53.69.76.90
Alberto Salama, ESA ISO and ASTRO-F Project Scientist
E-mail: Alberto.Salama @ esa.int
Göran Pilbratt, ESA Herschel Project Scientist
E-mail: gpilbratt @ rssd.esa.int
ESA joins forces with Japan on new infrared sky surveyor
A high-capability new infrared satellite, ASTRO-F, was successfully launched
last night by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). In a collaborative
effort involving ESA and scientists across Europe, the spacecraft is now being
prepared to start its mapping of the cosmos.
More at:
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEM2MAMVGJE_index_0.html
