14 Dec 2010, Daily Yomiuri Online: Use Akatsuki lessons in future space projects

Use Akatsuki lessons in future space projects
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, unlike its European or U.S. counterparts, does not abound with budget and staff. Whether Japan, under such circumstances, will achieve space technology that it can be proud of globally is being put to the test.

The space probe Akatsuki failed to enter orbit around Venus last week.

The probe was supposed to retrofire, but due to a fuel supply failure it passed by the planet without reducing its speed.

The Mars probe Nozomi, launched in 1998, also failed to go into orbit around its target planet. It is unfortunate to see the second failure in as many attempts at planetary exploration.

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No success without failure

But challenges are never without failure. The United States and the former Soviet Union, front-runners in space exploration, succeeded in their explorations of Venus and Mars only after repeated failures.

The cause of the recent failure must be thoroughly investigated and understood so that the lessons learned can be used for future space exploration.

Akatsuki's flight data shows that it suddenly became unbalanced minutes after it started retrofiring. JAXA suspects that the engine nozzle was damaged, and this led to the probe being thrown off kilter.

If Akatsuki follows its current trajectory, it will next approach Venus six years from now, when JAXA will try again to put the probe into orbit around Venus.

But the next attempt is expected to be difficult, with the level of damage suffered determining how complicated it may be. Thus, determining the damage is a vital task.

The engine installed on Akatsuki was developed by Japan independently. Its advantages include high combustion efficiency, outstanding durability and low price.

The Akatsuki project is said to have cost about 25 billion yen, including the expense of the launch. JAXA developed such a sophisticated probe on a smaller budget than Europe or the United States would have used.

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Ultimate test has begun

The probe's performance was confirmed repeatedly in ground tests, but had yet to be tested in space. Now, the probe is suddenly in the midst of the ultimate test.

The probe Hayabusa, which returned after sampling minute particles from the asteroid Itokawa, was also equipped with many "unprecedented" technologies. It developed a series of problems including engine trouble during its seven-year space journey, but JAXA managed to overcome each one as it arose.

In the case of Akatsuki, too, JAXA must explore every possibility.

China and India have joined the ranks of the United States, European countries and Russia in planetary exploration. In addition to the scientific motivation of elucidating the origin of the solar system and Earth itself, these countries are spurred by the chance to enhance their own space development technology.

Japan, for its part, plans to launch a Mercury probe in 2014 that it and Europe will jointly use to observe the planet and collect data. An asteroid probe to succeed Hayabusa is also in the works. We hope that Japan will make steady achievements in promoting these projects.