Shin'en (spacecraft)
Japanese student spacecraft lost after launch toward Venus.
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Shin'en, also known as UNITEC-1 or UNISEC Technology Experiment Carrier 1, is a Japanese student spacecraft intended to fly by Venus to test computer durability in interplanetary space. It was designed to become the first student-built spacecraft to operate beyond geocentric orbit. Operated by the University Space Engineering Consortium, it launched on 20 May 2010 but contact was lost shortly afterward.
Spacecraft
Shin'en has no attitude control or stabilisation system. Its solar cells, attached externally, were expected to generate about 25 watts of electricity.
The primary payload consists of six university-built computers to be tested against radiation and temperature extremes in interplanetary space. A camera and a radiation counter are also carried. To reduce cost and complexity, a low-power communications system broadcasts a continuous wave at one bit per second; amateur radio operators were invited to help collect data.
Launch
Shin'en launched successfully at 21:58:22 UTC on 20 May 2010 from Pad 1 of the Yoshinobu Launch Complex at Tanegashima Space Centre. Three other student spacecraft—Waseda-SAT2, K-Sat, and Negai☆—separated while the rocket was still in Earth orbit, but Shin'en was the last to separate. The launch was conducted by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries for JAXA. The rocket had been rolled out on 16 May 2010, departing the assembly building at 21:01 UTC and arriving at the pad at 21:25 UTC for a launch scheduled at 21:44:14 UTC on 17 May.
The terminal countdown began at 11:30 UTC on 17 May, with cryogenic propellant loading completed by 15:28, but the attempt was scrubbed minutes before launch due to bad weather. After launch, Shin'en entered a heliocentric orbit and was planned to fly past Venus six or seven months into the mission. UNISEC noted that Shin'en is the first student spacecraft to pass over the Van Allen radiation belt. It was expected to be near Venus as of December 2010.
More in Derelict Satellites in Heliocentric Orbit
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Shin'en (spacecraft) (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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