Sakigake

: "Sakigake may also refer to Sakigake!! Kuromati Koko, an anime."Infobox_Spacecraft
Name = Sakigake


Caption = Spacecraft Sakigake
Organization = ISAS (now part of JAXA).
Major_Contractors =
Mission_Type = Flyby
Flyby_Of = Comet Halley
Launch = January 7, 1985 from Kagoshima Space Center
Launch_Vehicle = M-3SII-1
Decay =
Mission_Duration = November 15 1995
Mass = 138.1 kg
NSSDC_ID = 1985-001A
Webpage = [http://www.isas.ac.jp/e/enterp/missions/complate/sakigake.shtml SAKIGAKE]
Semimajor_Axis =
Eccentricity = -
Inclination = .07°
Orbital_Period = 382.8 d
Apoapsis = 1.15 AU
Periapsis = .92 AU
Orbits =

Sakigake (MS-T5), was Japan's first interplanetary spacecraft. It aimed to demonstrate the performance of the new launch vehicle, test the schemes of the first escape from the Earth gravitation for Japan on engineering basis, observing space plasma and magnetic field in interplanetary space. Sakigake was also supposed to get references for scientists. Early measurements would be used to improve the mission of the Suisei probe several months later.

Sakigake developed by the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science for the National Space Development Agency (both of which are now part of the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA). It became a part of the Halley Armada together with Suisei, the Soviet/French Vega probes, the ESA Giotto and the NASA International Cometary Explorer, to explore Halley's Comet during its 1986 sojourn through the inner solar system.

Design

Unlike its twin Suisei, it carried no imaging instruments in its instrument payload.

Launch

Sakigake was launched January 7, 1985 from Kagoshima Space Center by M-3SII-1 launch vehicle.

Halley encounter

It carried out a flyby of Halley's Comet on March 11, 1986 at a distance of 6.99 million km.

Giacobini-Zinner encounter

There were plans for the spacecraft to go on to an encounter with 21P/Giacobini-Zinner in 1998 but they had to be abandoned due to lack of propellant.

End of mission

Contact was lost in January 7, 1999.

External links

* [http://www.isas.ac.jp/e/enterp/missions/complate/sakigake.shtml SAKIGAKE]
* [http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/profile.cfm?MCode=Sakigake Sakigake Mission Profile] by [http://solarsystem.nasa.gov NASA's Solar System Exploration]
* [http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/comets/sakigake.html Halley's Comet Flyby]