Feb 21 2006
From The Space Library
JAXA announced that it had successfully launched its ASTRO-F infrared astronomical satellite after a one-day weather delay. The 952-kilogram (2,099-pound) satellite blasted off from Uchinoura Space Center on an M-5 booster at 21:28 (UT). ASTRO-F carried a 67-centimeter- aperture (26-inch-aperture) infrared telescope, a Far-Infrared Surveyor, and the Infrared Camera. Its mission was to survey all the galaxies for infrared luminance indicating newly forming planets, stars, and protogalaxies, and to collect data on the structure, mass, and composition of new stars. This information would help scientists understand the formation process of stars, planetary systems, and galaxies. Part of a joint mission of JAXA, ESA, and Korean researchers, ASTRO-F was built to survey the cosmos at higher resolutions and with higher sensitivity than the world’s first infrared satellite, the Infrared Astronomy Satellite, which had launched in 1983.
JAXA, “Infrared Imaging Satellite “AKARI” (ASTRO-F),” http://www.jaxa.jp/projects/sat/astro_f/index_e.html (accessed 14 September 2010); Tariq Malik, “Japan Launches New Observatory for Infrared Sky Survey,” Space.com, 21 February 2006, http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/060221_jaxa_astrof_lnch.html (accessed 14 September 2010); Spacewarn Bulletin, no. 628, 1 March 2006, http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/spacewarn/spx628.html (accessed 22 September 2010).
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