Japan Launches First Satellite
On this day in history, 1970, Japan launched its first satellite, Ohsumi, becoming the fourth country to successfully launch an artificial satellite into orbit. It was launched with a Lambda 4S-5 rocket from Uchinoura Space Center by the Institute of Space and Aeronautical Science, University of Tokyo, now a part of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
The overall objective of the mission was to study satellite launch technologies by M (Mu) rocket and perform an engineering experiment on the satellite. Ohsumi’s signal was lost about 14 to 15 hours after launch, most likely due to rapid reduction of power capacity because of the higher than expected temperatures.
Yesterday: Pioneer 10 Crosses Saturn’s Orbit
The satellite remained in orbit until August 2, 2003 (JST) when it reentered the atmosphere and was melted.
Image credit: Wikipedia commons
This diagram shows the overall configuration of the satellite. The length was 1,000 mm, and the maximum diameter was 480 mm. The satellite was also equipped with hook-type antennas and four beryllium-copper whip-type antennas (circular polarization). Image credit: JAXA
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