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| Forum: | Satellites - Robotic Probes |
| Topic: | JAXA's ASTRO-H 'Hitomi' astronomy satellite |
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ASTRO-H is the eye to study the hot and energetic universe. Therefore we name ASTRO-H, "Hitomi." The word Hitomi generally means "eye," and specifically the pupil, or entrance window of the eye — the aperture! There is also an ancient legend that inspires the name Hitomi. "One day, many years ago, a painter was drawing four white dragons on a street. He finished drawing the dragons, but without "Hitomi." People who looked at the painting said, "why don't you paint Hitomi, it is not complete!" The painter hesitated, but people pressured him. The painter then drew Hitomi on two of the four dragons. Immediately, these dragons came to life and flew up into the sky. The two dragons without Hitomi remained still." The inspiration of this story is that Hitomi is regarded as the "One last, but most important part," and so we wish ASTRO-H to be the essential mission to solve mysteries of the universe in X-rays. Hitomi refers to the aperture of the eye, the part where incoming light is absorbed. From this, Hitomi reminds us of a black hole. We will observe Hitomi in the Universe using the Hitomi satellite! For your information, a nano-satellite "PRISM," which was developed by Profs Nakasuka and Funase laboratory, at the University of Tokyo, and is currently in operation, shares the same name of Hitomi as its nickname. The laboratory kindly accepted our request to use the same name for ASTRO-H, and we would like to express our sincere appreciation for their cooperation. | | Robert Pearlman | JAXA release Communication failure of X-ray Astronomy Satellite "Hitomi" (ASTRO-H)The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency found that communication with the X-ray Astronomy Satellite "Hitomi" (ASTRO-H), launched on Feb. 17, 2016 (JST), failed from the start of its operation originally scheduled at 16:40, Saturday March 26 (JST). Up to now, JAXA has not been able to figure out the state of health of the satellite. While cause of communication failure is under investigation, JAXA received short signal from the satellite, and is working for recovery. JAXA set up emergency headquarters, headed by the President, for recovery and investigation. The headquarters held its first meeting today, and has been working for recovery and the investigation of the cause. Updates will be announced as available, at the JAXA website. The Joint Space Operations Center (JSpOC), which detects, tracks, and identifies all artificial objects in Earth orbit, reports Hitomi broke apart into five pieces. | | Robert Pearlman | JAXA release Current Status of Communication Anomaly of X-ray Astronomy Satellite 'Hitomi (ASTRO-H)The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has been trying to communicate with the X-ray Astronomy Satellite "Hitomi" (ASTRO-H), using ground stations both in Japan and overseas. By utilizing two opportunities of communicating with Hitomi, JAXA received signals from the satellite: the first time was at about 10:00 p.m. on March 28 at the Uchinoura Ground Station, and the second one was at around 0:30 a.m. on March 29 at the Santiago Tracking Station in Chile. JAXA has not been able to figure out the state of its health, as the time frames for receiving the signals were very short. According to the U.S. Joint Space Operations Center (JSpOC), it is estimated that Hitomi separated to five pieces at about 10:42 a.m. In order to investigate the situation, JAXA is observing the objects, using a radar located at the Kamisaibara Space Guard Center (KSGC) and telescopes at the Bisei Space Guard Center (BSGC) owned by the Japan Space Forum. Up to now, the telescopes at BSGC detected two objects around the satellite's original orbit, while the radar at KSGC identified one of them. It is confirmed that the signal received at the Santiago Tracking Station came from the orbital direction of the object identified at KSGC. JAXA continues to investigate the relationship between the information announced by JSpOC and the communication anomaly. JAXA will continue to do its best to recover communications with Hitomi and investigate the cause of the anomaly. | | Robert Pearlman | JAXA release Operation Plan of X-ray Astronomy Satellite ASTRO-H (Hitomi)The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) established the emergency headquarters led by President Okumura and has been doing its utmost to understand the anomaly of the X-ray Astronomy Satellite ASTRO-H ("Hitomi"). We have made every effort to confirm the status of ASTRO-H and to regain its functions. Unfortunately, based on our rigorous technical investigation, we had to conclude as follows. - Most of our analyses including simulations on the mechanisms of object separation, it is highly likely that both solar array paddles had broken off at their bases where they are vulnerable to rotation.
- Originally, we had some hopes to restore communication with ASTRO-H since we thought we received signals from ASTRO-H three times after object separation. However, we had to conclude that the received signals were not from ASTRO-H due to the differences in frequencies as a consequence of technological study.
JAXA has also received information from several overseas organizations that indicated the separation of the two solar array paddles from ASTRO-H. Considering this information, we have determined that we cannot restore the ASTRO-H's functions. Accordingly, JAXA will cease the efforts to restore ASTRO-H and will focus on the investigation of anomaly causes. We will carefully review all phases from design, manufacturing, verification, and operations to identify the causes that may have led to this anomaly including background factors. JAXA expresses the deepest regret for the fact that we had to discontinue the operations of ASTRO-H and extends our most sincere apologies to everyone who has supported ASTRO-H believing in the excellent results ASTRO-H would bring, to all overseas and domestic partners including NASA, and to all foreign and Japanese astrophysicists who were planning to use the observational results from ASTRO-H for their studies. JAXA also would like to take this opportunity to send our profound appreciation to all overseas and domestic organizations for all of their help in confirming the status of ASTRO-H through ground-based observations and other means. | |
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