Hinotori

Hinotori (ASTRO-A)
Type:	X-ray satellite
Country:	Japan
COSPAR-ID :	1981-017A
Mission dates
Dimensions:	188 kg
Begin:	February 21, 1981, 00:30 UTC
Starting place:	Kagoshima-M
Launcher:	Mu-3S
Flight duration:	ten years
Status:	burned up on July 11, 1991
Orbit data
Rotation time :	96.2 min
Orbit inclination :	31.3 °
Apogee height :	603 km
Perigee height :	548 km

Hinotori ( Japaneseひ の と り; "firebird, phoenix"), original name ASTRO-A , was a Japanese X-ray satellite built for solar observation .

The satellite, built by the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science , was launched on February 21, 1981 with an M-3S rocket from the Kagoshima Space Center . Hinotori obtained images of solar flares in the X-ray light and X-ray spectra of these flares. Hinotori re-entered the earth's atmosphere on July 11, 1991 and burned up.

Web links

• Astro A in the Encyclopedia Astronautica (English)
• Astro A (Hinotori) on Gunter's Space Page (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Hinotori in the NSSDCA Master Catalog , accessed on September 21, 2012.