Misfire, flyby; next window not for six years
After a nearly seven-month journey, the space probe Akatsuki has failed to enter Venus orbit, most likely overshooting the planet, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said Wednesday.
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| Lost in space?: Akatsuki project manager Masato Nakamura explains the space probe's failure to enter Venus orbit at a news conference Wednesday at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture. KYODO PHOTO |
Despite the failure Tuesday, the probe, which was sent up May 21, may have another chance when it comes close to the planet again in six years, JAXA said.
Japan has yet to place a space probe in orbit around a planet other than Earth, following an earlier failed attempt between 1998 and 2003 to get a probe into Mars orbit.
"I'm sorry that we failed to meet the expectations of the public," said Akatsuki project manager Masato Nakamura in a news conference at JAXA's Institute of Space and Astronautical Science in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture.
Developed at a cost of ¥25.2 billion, the probe must stay operable for six years to have another pass at Venus. "Hopefully speaking, I think the likelihood (of success in six years) is high," Nakamura said.
Engineers at JAXA worked through the night analyzing data from Akatsuki, after losing contact with the probe shortly after it began decelerating Tuesday morning Japan time to prepare to enter orbit.
After partially restoring communication with the probe, JAXA said it had found no trouble with its main unit.
From its position about 550 km above Venus on Tuesday, Akatsuki was to fire its engine for 12 minutes to slow down enough to be pulled into Venus' gravitational field.
JAXA said it appears Akatsuki's engine cut out two to three minutes after firing.
Unable to slow enough, the probe most likely overshot Venus, it said.
Akatsuki is designed to observe the planet's atmosphere for over two years in an elliptical 30-hour orbit at altitudes of 550 to 80,000 km.
Shedding light on meteorological phenomena in Venus will help in understanding why Venus and Earth, the two planets most similar in size and distance from the sun, have very different environments, researchers say.
JAXA institute head Junjiro Onoda said Akatsuki's failure to enter Venus orbit was "extremely regrettable, as it comes at a time when the public has started to show greater support for the country's space development programs after the success of (the asteroid explorer) Hayabusa."
Akatsuki is Japan's first planetary exploration mission since the failed Mars probe Nozomi, which was launched in 1998. A series of technical glitches forced JAXA to give up trying to put Nozomi into orbit in 2003.
JAXA officials said they used lessons learned from Nozomi's failure in the development of Akatsuki, such as to more closely communicate with the probe from Earth to control its engine.
"It's hard to find words to say, but let's keep on protecting Akatsuki for the next six years," project manager Nakamura told the Akatsuki project team early Wednesday morning after concluding that the mission had failed.
The failure disappointed scientists around the world.
"The Planetary Society regrets that the innovative Akatsuki spacecraft seems to have missed its opportunity to lock into an orbit of Venus," said Bill Nye, executive director of the U.S.-based private group that supports space exploration.
"Although Akatsuki has already accomplished some remarkable things on its voyage, this setback reminds us how difficult space exploration can be."
Japan has long been one of the world's leading space-faring nations. It was the first Asian country to put a satellite in orbit around the Earth — in 1970 — and has developed a highly reliable booster rocket in its H-II series.
Unlike many space programs, Japan cannot rely on military budgets or projects to develop its rocket capabilities.
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