Hakucho (also known as CORSA-b before launch; CORSA stands for Cosmic Radiation Satellite) was

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

's first X-ray astronomy satellite, developed by the Institute of Space and Aeronautical Science (then a division of the University of Tokyo). It was launched from the Kagoshima Space Center by the ISAS M-3C rocket on the M-3C-4 mission on February 21, 1979 and reentered the atmosphere on April 15, 1985. Hakucho was a replacement for the CORSA satellite which failed to launch due to rocket failure on February 4, 1976.

Highlights

*Discovery of soft X-ray transient Cen X-4 and Aql X-1 *Discovery of many burst sources *Long-term monitoring of X-ray pulsar (e.g. Vela X-1) *Discovery of 2 Hz variability in the Rapid Burster later named Quasi Period Oscillation.

References

isas.jaxa.jp
Satellites formerly orbiting Earth X-ray telescopes Satellites of Japan 1979 in spaceflight Spacecraft launched in 1979 {{Japan-spacecraft-stub

Highlights

See also

References