Japan writes off ADEOS spacecraft
Posted: Fri, Oct 31, 2003, 7:39 PM ET (0039 GMT)
The Japanese space agency JAXA announced Friday that it has declared the ADOES-2 spacecraft a total loss after losing contact with it for nearly a week. Communications with the Advanced Earth Observing Satellite 2, also known as Midori-2, were lost on October 25 and never regained. In a statement Friday, JAXA said that while it will continue efforts to restore communications, the odds that the Earth-observing spacecraft could resume normal operations was "extremely slim". A solar storm last weekend, similar to stronger ones that struck the Earth earlier this week, may have caused the spacecraft to fail, but no definitive reason for the failure has yet been released. Another Japanese spacecraft, Kodama, shut down earlier in the week during another solar storm, and efforts to restore contact with it continue. ADEOS-2 was launched into Sun-synchronous orbit in December 2002 on a Japanese H-2A rocket. The $587-million spacecraft was intended to study the Earth's environment for five years. Its predecessor, ADEOS, was lost because of a solar panel malfunction in 1997.
The Japanese space agency JAXA announced Friday that it has declared the ADOES-2 spacecraft a total loss after losing contact with it for nearly a week. Communications with the Advanced Earth Observing Satellite 2, also known as Midori-2, were lost on October 25 and never regained. In a statement Friday, JAXA said that while it will continue efforts to restore communications, the odds that the Earth-observing spacecraft could resume normal operations was "extremely slim". A solar storm last weekend, similar to stronger ones that struck the Earth earlier this week, may have caused the spacecraft to fail, but no definitive reason for the failure has yet been released. Another Japanese spacecraft, Kodama, shut down earlier in the week during another solar storm, and efforts to restore contact with it continue. ADEOS-2 was launched into Sun-synchronous orbit in December 2002 on a Japanese H-2A rocket. The $587-million spacecraft was intended to study the Earth's environment for five years. Its predecessor, ADEOS, was lost because of a solar panel malfunction in 1997.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
FAA restricts hours for commercial launches during shutdown
Posted: Sun, Nov 9 9:05 AM ET (1405 GMT) China postpones Shenzhou-20 return on orbital debris concerns
Posted: Sun, Nov 9 8:58 AM ET (1358 GMT) |
|
news links
|
|
Saturday, November 15
Emirates to put Starlink on aircraft in major win for SpaceX
Bloomberg News — 5:11 am ET (1011 GMT) DOJ Issued Seizure Warrant to Starlink Over Satellite Internet Systems Used at Scam Compound
Wired News — 5:09 am ET (1009 GMT) New Glenn Rocket Aces Launch and Landing, Setting Up Space Force for More Options
Air and Space Forces Magazine — 5:06 am ET (1006 GMT) Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket landed its booster on a barge at sea – an achievement that will broaden the commercial spaceflight market
The Conversation — 5:05 am ET (1005 GMT) Second Viasat Broadband Satellite Enters Space
Aviation Week — 5:04 am ET (1004 GMT) |
