Launch of ASTRO-E

Coundown to Launch

ASTRO-E was launched from the Kagoshima Space Center on an M-V (M-five) rocket, the first of which launched the MUSES-B satellite (now renamed HALCA) in February of 1997, at 10:30 JST on 10 February 2000. However, due to a first stage malfunction, ASTRO-E failed to reach orbit.

This page records the excitement of days leading up to that unfortunate event.

See also the first person account of this period by Dr. Kevin Boyce, a member of the ASTRO-E team, and the Pre-Launch Press Release.

As of 4:20 pm JST on February 7th, ASTRO-E is ready for launch at 10:30am JST on the 8th. The only concern is the 20% chance of rain forecast for the area for the morning of the 8th.

Launch Schedule
Blue indicates an event that has already taken place.
2000 Jan. 5-7 Ship to KSC

Jan. 8-18 Satellite final check

Jan. 19-30 Mate satellite to 3rd stage

Jan. 31 Mate satellite+3rd stage to 2nd and 1st stages.

Feb. 1-4 Launcher final check

Feb. 5 Launch rehearsal

Feb. 6-7 Final preparations (Neon cool-down/Helium top-off)

Feb. 10 Launch

Launch + 1-3 days (d) Raise perigee

+4 d Spin down

+5 d 3 axis stabilization / Sun acquisition / paddle extension

+9 d Star Tracker turn-on and check

+10 d Extended Optical Bench extension (The final configuration, which keeps the mirrors ~4.5 m in front of the detectors, won't fit into the nose faring of the rocket, so a part of it is collapsed, making the total length ~3m in the launch configuration.)

+11-12 d Begin normal attitude control

+16-26 d Instrument turn-on (beginning with HXD High Voltage (HV) on and ending with XRS gate valve and XIS door open; this is called 'first light')

+29 d Science Working Group observations begin (instrument, software and operation teams, plus a few outside observers)

Older News:

2/10/99: It is now less than 1 year to launch! The Goddard XRS team has delivered the instrument to Japan, and it has been successfully integrated with the neon dewar which was built in Japan.

7/31/98: The delivery of the X-ray Imaging Spectrometer (XIS) flight unit to Japan has been pushed forward by 1 month to accommodate a design modification to the CCD mounting design for better performance during pyro-shock. The instrument will undergo various electrical interface tests once it arrives in Japan.

The Suzaku Learning Center is a service of the High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center (HEASARC), within the Astrophysics Scicence Division (ASD) at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.