The spacecraft was launched 5 years ago and its instruments were damaged by a solar flare * This is the second approach attempt to the Earth. The first failed to provide her with acceleration
Avi Blizovsky
The Nozomi spacecraft cost 848 million dollars
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A Japanese spacecraft made an approach to Earth in order to gain speed to allow it to reach Mars. The spacecraft, Nozumi, Tikva in Japanese, was hit by a solar flare immediately after launch and may not reach its destination.
Its overheated systems are malfunctioning and must be repaired somehow so the spacecraft doesn't miss Mars and get lost in space.
Dr. Yasunori Matogawa, director of Japan's Kagoshima Space Center, said: "In my estimation, there are fifty percent chances of success in rehabilitating Nazumi based on the data we currently have."
The planners of the experiment would not know until a week from now if the approach to Earth was successful. The spacecraft is already five years behind schedule and running out of fuel. The solar flare damaged the spacecraft's communication and power systems. The spacecraft's altitude control heating system is not working and this will cause problems when Nozomi moves away from the sun. The fuel has frozen and she may not be able to ignite her deceleration rockets when she reaches orbit around Mars.
"They're in big trouble," said Dr. David Williams of NASA's Goddard Space Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "If the heating system doesn't work, it may pass over Mars. In any case, they won't be able to activate her devices."
Nozomi approached to an altitude of 18 thousand kilometers from the Earth. Earth's gravity pushed it towards Mars. "Without this approach flight, Nozumi will not be able to get close to Mars," said Dr. Matogawa. This is the second approach of the spacecraft to the Earth. The first one, in December 2002, failed to give the spaceship enough speed.
If the spacecraft succeeds in reaching Mars, Nozomi will study the Martian atmosphere and its interaction with the solar wind. It should arrive there at about the same time together with a European spacecraft and with American spacecraft that are being launched this month to Mars.
. The European Space Agency's Mars Express spacecraft carrying the British Beagle 2 lander was launched from the Bikaner cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on June 2. The first of two research spacecraft carrying all-terrain vehicles, Spirit, was launched a week after the European spacecraft. Its twin spacecraft, Opportunity, is scheduled to lift off this week, on June 25.
The previous missions to Mars had a high percentage of failures, almost two out of every three spacecraft failed to reach their destination.
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