Hakucho
| Hakucho | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Type: | X-ray telescope |
| Country: |
 Japan
|
| Operator: | ISAS |
| COSPAR-ID : | 1979-014A |
| Mission dates | |
| Dimensions: | 100 kg |
| Begin: | February 21, 1979, 05:00 UTC |
| Starting place: | Kagoshima |
| Launcher: | Mu-3C-4 |
| Flight duration: | 6 years |
| Status: | burned up on April 16, 1985 |
| Orbit data | |
| Rotation time : | 93.1 min |
| Orbit inclination : | 29.9 ° |
| Apogee height : | 433 km |
| Perigee height : | 421 km |
Hakuchō (は く ち ょ う, Japanese for swan) was the first Japanese satellite for X-ray astronomy . The original name of the project up to the start was CORSA-B (Cosmic Radiation Satellite B).
The predecessor CORSA-A , which was also developed at the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science , did not reach Earth orbit on February 4, 1976 due to a malfunction of the launcher.
Hakucho was launched on February 21, 1979 with a Mu-3C rocket from the Kagoshima Space Center . On April 16, 1985, the mission ended with the re-entry into the earth's atmosphere. Hakuchō had three scientific instruments on board for the energy range from 0.1 to 100 keV . Hakuchō made new discoveries, especially on variable X-ray sources in the sky such as pulsars , and on sources with bursts of intensified X-rays.
More Japanese satellites for X-ray astronomy
- Tenma (ASTRO-B, 1983)
- Ginga (ASTRO-C, 1987)
- Advanced Satellite for Cosmology and Astrophysics (ASTRO-D, 1993)
- ASTRO-E (2005)
- ASTRO-F (2006)
- Hitomi (ASTRO-H, 2016)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Hakucho in the NSSDCA Master Catalog , accessed on August 16, 2012 (English).