JAXA
AKATSUKI Update... I would write a long entry about this, but I don’t wanna. Basically, Japan’s first mission to the planet Venus has hit a major snag. Akatsuki was unable to enter Venus’ orbit after initiating an Orbit Insertion Maneuver (OIM) at 3:49 PM, Pacific Standard Time yesterday. The flight can still be salvaged, if the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) waits 6 years till Akatsuki flies close to Venus again to initiate another OIM—which will probably not be likely since the spacecraft probably used up a lot of fuel on yesterday’s try. It’s 2003 all over again...when Japan’s Nozomi spacecraft failed to enter Mars’ orbit after being launched in 1998. Of course, if Hayabusa is any indication, resourceful engineering and intestinal fortitude by the Akatsuki flight team may lead to a triumphant moment between...December 2016 and January 2017 (the next time Akatsuki approaches the greenhouse planet).
On a personal note, the streak has ended for me. Since 2007, every spacecraft that I’ve submitted my name on is either still going strong or ended in success. NASA’s Phoenix Mars lander, JAXA’s Kaguya lunar orbiter and IKAROS solar sail, NASA’s Dawn space probe, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and Kepler spacecraft... I guess I can’t complain about this unfortunate setback with Akatsuki when my name is sitting safely on the Martian surface and as far in deep space as the Asteroid Belt (and even Saturn and headed to Pluto...if you visit the link posted in the first sentence of this paragraph). Also, there are three spacecraft with my name on ‘em scheduled to launch in 2011 that will hopefully make up for this loss. I’d elaborate, but I don’t wanna jinx it. Let’s just say I’ll hopefully be heading to Earth orbit with two of these missions, and the third one will be heading to the Martian surface to join her sister rovers, Spirit and Opportunity. That is all.
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