Hinotori, also known as ASTRO-A before launch, was a Japanese
X-ray astronomy satellite. It was developed by the
Institute of Space and Astronautical Science
(ISAS) is a Japanese national research organization of astrophysics using rockets, astronomical satellites and interplanetary probes which played a major role in Japan's space development. Since 2003, it is a division of Japan Aerospace E ...
(ISAS). Its primary mission was to study of solar flares emanating from the Sun during the solar maximum. It was launched successfully on February 21, 1981 using a
M-3S rocket as the vehicle from
Uchinoura Space Center
The is a space launch facility in the Japanese town of Kimotsuki, Kagoshima Prefecture. Before the establishment of the JAXA space agency in 2003, it was simply called the (KSC). All of Japan's scientific satellites were launched from Uchino ...
(known at the time as Kagoshima). After the start of normal operation, it observed a large solar flare and, a month later, succeeded in observing 41 flares of many sizes from the Sun. It reentered the atmosphere on July 11, 1991.
[ISAS]
"Solar Observation HINOTORI (ASTRO-A)"
retrieved 2014-12-23. The name Hinotori is the Japanese word for Phoenix.
Instruments
* Solar flare X-ray imager (SXT)
* Solar soft X-ray bright line spectrum analyzer (SOX)
* Solar soft X-ray monitor (HXM)
* Solar flare monitor (FLM)
* Solar gamma ray monitor (SGR)
* Particle ray monitor (PXM)
* Plasma electron density measurement instrument (IMP)
* Plasma electron temperature measurement instrument (TEL)
Highlights
* Observational data of the maximum period of solar activity
* Discovery of high-temperature phenomena reaching up to 50 million °C and clouds of light-speed electrons floating in the corona of the Sun
References
External links
ISAS information about Hinotori
Spacecraft which reentered in 1991
X-ray telescopes
Satellites of Japan
Spacecraft launched in 1981
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