Astro E

Launch data: Designation F01226 / 00F01 Launch date 10 Feb 2000 - 01:30 UT Launch site Kagoshima Launch vehicle Mu 5 (#26) Mission Scientific:X-ray astronomy

Specifications

X-Ray Spectrometer (XRS)

X-ray Imaging Spectrometer (XIS)

Hard X-ray Dectector (HXD)

End of life

Description:

• Astro E is a X-ray astronomy satellite bulit as a joint effort of NASA and the Japanese space agency ISAS. Observing the X-ray spectrum of the distant universe, Astro-E will open a new window into the workings of black holes, neutron stars, active galaxies, and other very energetic objects.
• The launcher and platform was provided by ISAS and other Japanese organisations. The instruments were mainly provided by NASA's GSFC and Univeristy of Tokyo. It would have complemented Chandra by capturing the spectrum of X-ray sources (composition, temperature, velocity and direction of the gas that is emitting the x-ray light).

Mission details:

• The ASTRO-E X-ray astronomy satellite was launched on Feb 10. However, the first stage of the M-V launch vehicle (serial M-V-4) went off course. An anomalous vibration was detected 25 seconds after launch. At 41 seconds ceramic heat shields in the first stage nozzle apparently broke and fell off, and thrust vector control on the nozzle was lost.
• Stage 1 separated at 1 min 15 s; stage 2 separated at 3 min 38 s. The third stage burn completed at 5 min 21s. Last signals from M-V-4 were received at 20 min after launch; the payload probably separated from the third stage at 23 min.
• Although the upper stages were able to fire and make some correction to the trajectory, ASTRO-E ended up with a perigee of only 80 km and an apogee of 410 km. It may have reentered on the first orbit at around 0230-0300UTC somewhere between East Africa and Tibet or western China (depending on the altitude at injection); Space Command don't seemed to have cataloged any objects from the launch.