Tag: ‘JAXA’

Photos of JAXA’s origami space shuttles

08 Oct 2008

Oriplane, paper shuttle --

Japanese precision machinery manufacturer Castem has sent nine origami space shuttles to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) office in Houston, it was announced on October 7. If all goes as planned, the paper planes will conduct experimental flights from the space station to Earth early next year.

Oriplane, paper space plane --

The 29-gram (1 oz) origami shuttles, which measure 38 centimeters (14 in) long and 22 centimeter (9 in) wide, are made from lightweight but durable sugar cane fiber paper that has been chemically treated to resist heat and water. Developed by JAXA and the University of Tokyo, the special paper has already been used to construct a miniature prototype shuttle, which was tested in a hypersonic wind tunnel in January. In that test, the prototype survived wind speeds of Mach 7 (8,600 kph/ 5,300 mph) and temperatures of around 200 degrees Celsius (nearly 400 degrees Fahrenheit).

Oriplane, paper spacecraft --

If NASA approves, the Space Shuttle Discovery will carry the origami planes to the International Space Station (ISS) in February 2009. JAXA astronaut Dr. Koichi Wakata, who will be living aboard ISS when the origami planes arrive, will carry out the experiment from the Kibo Japanese Experiment Module. It is yet to be decided whether Wakata himself will throw the paper planes or whether he will use the space station's robotic arm.

In either case, JAXA estimates it will take two days for the origami shuttles to complete the 400-kilometer (250 mi) journey from ISS to the planet surface.

Oriplane, origami space shuttle --

A message printed beneath the wings identifies the plane, explains that it has completed a return journey from the space station, and requests the finder to contact JAXA. The message is printed in 10 different languages, including Japanese, English, Chinese, Hindi, and Arabic.

Japan Origami Airplane Association chairman Takuo Toda, a strong proponent of the experiment, says he hopes the test flights will help engineers develop new types of lightweight spacecraft in the future.

[Source: Asahi // Photos: Oriplane]

Video: Space boomerang

01 May 2008

JAXA has finally gotten around to releasing video of astronaut Takao Doi's successful space boomerang toss conducted inside the International Space Station's Harmony Module in March. (Watch it.)

[Source: JAXA via IT Media]

JAXA testing space solar power system

08 Feb 2008

Space Solar Power System --
For decades, scientists have explored the possibility of using space-based solar cells to power the Earth. Some see orbiting power stations as a clean and stable energy source that promises to slow global warming, while others dismiss the idea as an expensive and impractical solution to the world's energy problems. While the discussion goes on, researchers at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) have begun to develop the hardware.

JAXA, which plans to have a Space Solar Power System (SSPS) up and running by 2030, envisions a system consisting of giant solar collectors in geostationary orbit 36,000 kilometers above the Earth?s surface. The satellites convert sunlight into powerful microwave (or laser) beams that are aimed at receiving stations on Earth, where they are converted into electricity.

On February 20, JAXA will take a step closer to the goal when they begin testing a microwave power transmission system designed to beam the power from the satellites to Earth. In a series of experiments to be conducted at the Taiki Multi-Purpose Aerospace Park in Hokkaido, the researchers will use a 2.4-meter-diameter transmission antenna to send a microwave beam over 50 meters to a rectenna (rectifying antenna) that converts the microwave energy into electricity and powers a household heater. The researchers expect these initial tests to provide valuable engineering data that will pave the way for JAXA to build larger, more powerful systems.

Microwave Space Solar Power SystemJAXA says the orbiting solar arrays, which have the advantage of being able to collect energy around the clock regardless of the weather on the ground, will need to transmit microwaves through the earth's atmosphere at frequencies that are not affected by the weather. The researchers are now looking at using the 2.45GHz and 5.8GHz bands, which have been allocated for use with industrial, scientific and medical devices.

JAXA ultimately aims to build ground receiving stations that measure about 3 kilometers across and that can produce 1 gigawatt (1 million kilowatts) of electricity -- enough to power approximately 500,000 homes.

[Source: Hokkaido Shimbun]

Earthrise video

14 Nov 2007

Earth over the lunar horizon --

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and public broadcaster NHK have released a scaled-down online version of their much anticipated high-definition video of the Earth rising over the lunar horizon. The video was taken on November 7 by the HDTV camera aboard the KAGUYA (SELENE) lunar explorer orbiting the moon at an altitude of 100 kilometers (62 miles). The first part of the video shows the Earth rising up from the horizon near the moon's north pole, and the second part shows the Earth setting near the moon's south pole. The original high-definition footage, which NHK plans to broadcast soon, is the world's first high-definition video of Earth taken from the moon (380,000 kilometers/ 236,000 miles from Earth). Obviously, the edited YouTube version you see here (as well as the original online version at JAXA) is not in HD format, but it is a nice teaser for what is coming to HDTV viewers in Japan.

[Source: JAXA]

Moon in HDTV

08 Nov 2007

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and public broadcaster NHK have succeeded in capturing the world's first high-definition video of the moon taken from lunar orbit. The 8x time-lapse video was shot using an HDTV camera aboard the KAGUYA lunar explorer, a.k.a. SELENE (SELenological and ENgineering Explorer), while in orbit 100 kilometers (62 miles) above the lunar surface.

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See also:

- Earthrise video
- HDTV footage of Earth

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JAXA has posted an online version of the video, which is divided into two parts. The first part was shot on west side of the Ocean of Storms as the explorer moved from south to north, and the second part was shot from a location north of the Ocean of Storms (Oceanus Procellarum) as the explorer moved toward the north pole. The footage was taken on October 31.

Here are a few stills from the video...

Moonscape --
(Enlarge)

This still was taken from the first part of the video, which was shot on the west side of the Ocean of Storms as KAGUYA moved from south to north. The dark area on the right side of the screen is the "ocean," and the bright area on the left is called the "highland."

Moonscape --
(Enlarge)

This still, which also shows the west side of the Ocean of Storms, was taken from the end of the first part of the video. The Repsold crater, which measures 107 kilometers (66 miles) across, is visible in the center of the image, near the bottom.

Moonscape --
(Enlarge)

This still, taken from the second part of video, shows an area north of the Ocean of Storms, near the north pole. At this high latitude, the low-angle sunlight casts long shadows in the craters.

The online video does not include the much-anticipated shot of the earth rising over the lunar horizon, but perhaps NHK is saving it for when they broadcast the footage in its full, high-definition glory.

[Source: JAXA press release]

Lunar probe shoots HDTV footage of Earth

02 Oct 2007

HDTV image of Earth from space -- The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and public broadcaster NHK have succeeded in capturing their first high-definition video of Earth from the Kaguya lunar explorer, a.k.a. SELENE (SELenological and ENgineering Explorer), an orbiter launched in mid-September on a mission to study the moon. (Click for full-sized image.)

Using a high-definition camera NHK developed specifically for use in space, the video was taken at a distance of 110,000 kilometers (68,000 miles) from Earth, making it the most distant HDTV footage of the planet ever taken. Previous HDTV video from the Space Shuttle and International Space Station was taken from a distance of 340 kilometers (210 miles).

More HDTV space footage -- including a money-shot of the Earth rising over the lunar horizon -- is expected this month as Kaguya continues its journey toward the moon. Viewers with HDTV-compatible television sets will get to experience the full quality of the high-definition video whenever NHK decides to air it.

[Link: JAXA]

Photos of space fireworks

02 Sep 2007

Space fireworks --

The Tokushima-Kainan Observatory took some terrific photos of Japan's space fireworks show.

Space fireworks

30 Aug 2007

Space fireworks -- People in Japan this Saturday Sunday evening will be treated to a "space fireworks" show consisting of three balls of red light in the sky, each glowing as bright as the moon.

These luminous orbs will be the result of three clouds of lithium vapor released into the ionosphere by a rocket launched in an experiment to study the atmosphere. The red glow will be caused by sunlight striking the lithium vapor clouds as they disperse. "In the first few seconds after each lithium release, the light should become as large and bright as the moon," says team member Masayuki Yamamoto, a professor at Kochi University of Technology.

Currently scheduled for Saturday (Sep 1, 2007) at 7:29 PM Sunday (Sep 2, 2007) at 7:26 PM, the one and a half minute long space fireworks show will be most visible in western Japan at about 20 degrees above the southern horizon, but people in the Tokyo area may be able to see the light at about 10 degrees above the southwestern horizon.

The researchers, who come from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Hokkaido University and Kochi University of Technology, say the purpose of the experiment is to study atmospheric flow in the ionosphere at an altitude of between 100 to 300 km. This area of the atmosphere is difficult to study because satellites typically must remain at altitudes higher than 250 km, while weather balloons generally cannot exceed altitudes of 50 km.

At 7:23 PM Saturday 7:20 PM Sunday night, the 8.5-meter tall S-520 rocket will be launched from the JAXA Uchinoura Space Center in southern Kyushu. As it makes an arc across the sky and begins its descent, the rocket will begin releasing the lithium. The rocket will make its first lithium release at 7:29 7:26 PM (at 250 km), followed by a second release 40 seconds later (at 200 km) and another one 40 seconds after that (at 150 km). The rocket will then fall into the Pacific about 500 km south of the tip of Wakayama prefecture.

The scientists will observe the lithium glows from the ground at four separate locations. If the weather is not fine at at least three of the four locations, the launch will be postponed. The latest schedule information is available here.

[Source: Asahi via Slashdot Japan]

UPDATE: It's been postponed until Sunday night (7:26 PM).

UPDATE 2: These photos, found via 2-channeru, show a faint red blob. The photos appear to have been taken from somewhere in Fukui prefecture, which is pretty far away from the action. Cloud cover here in Tokyo obscured the view.

Space fireworks --

Space fireworks --

UPDATE 3: These photos from the Tokushima-Kainan Observatory, located at Dairi-Matsubara beach in the town of Kaiyo (Tokushima prefecture, Shikoku), show a much brighter glow. More high-resolution photos here.

Space fireworks --

Space fireworks --

Space fireworks --

Official Japanese space menu

27 Jun 2007

JAXA's official Japanese space menu --- A new menu is in the works for hungry cosmonauts with a taste for Japanese cuisine. On June 27, in a move to expand the menu aboard the International Space Station, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) certified 29 Japanese food products from 12 manufacturers as official Japanese space food.

All items on the Japanese space menu -- which includes instant ramen, curry, onigiri (rice balls) and powdered green tea -- satisfy the International Space Station's stringent standards requiring packaged foods to withstand changes in air pressure and temperature and survive one year in storage under ordinary earthly temperatures. To meet these requirements, the food products are packed in special tubes. The foods also satisfy the preparation time requirement, which calls for food to be ready to eat in less than one hour after adding heat or water.

In addition, much of the space food has been redesigned to prevent it from scattering in zero-g. The ramen, for example, features a thick broth and noodles that are clumped together in bite-sized pieces. Extra flavoring has also been added because food tends to taste bland in zero-g.

Once the ISS menu is expanded to include the Japanese space food, astronauts aboard the space station will be able to eat it as they wish. Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, who is scheduled for a long-term stay aboard the International Space Station beginning in the fall of 2008, will undoubtedly appreciate the new fare.

Here is a complete list of the officially recognized Japanese space food products and the companies that produce them:

- Ajinomoto: Egg soup

- Onishi Foods: White rice, rice with red azuki beans, rice with red azuki beans and wild greens, salmon onigiri

- Kagome: Tomato ketchup, vegetable sauce, vegetable jelly drink (tomato/carrot)

- Kewpie: Mayonnaise, rice porridge

- Nissin: Soy sauce ramen, seafood ramen, curry ramen

- House Foods: Curry (beef/pork/chicken)

- Maruha: Mackerel in miso sauce, sardines in tomato sauce, kabayaki saury (broiled with sweet soy sauce)

- Mitsui Norin: Powdered green tea, powdered oolong tea

- Meiji: Functional drink (amino jelly)

- Yamazaki Baking: Azuki bean yokan (jelly), chestnut yokan

- Yamazaki-Nabisco: Kuroame (brown sugar candy), mint candy

- Riken Vitamin: Wakame (seaweed) soup, clear soup

[Sources: Yomiuri, JAXA press release]

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