Suisei probe
Spacecraft Suisei
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|
| Names | Planet-A (before launch) |
|---|---|
| Operator | ISAS (now part of Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency) |
| COSPAR ID | 1985-073A |
| SATCAT no. | 15967 |
| Website | Suisei |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Launch mass | 139.5 kg (308 lb) |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 23:33, August 18, 1985 |
| Rocket | M-3SII-2 |
| Launch site | Uchinoura Space Center |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Heliocentric |
| Sun orbiter | |
| Flyby of Comet Halley | |
| Closest approach | March 8, 1986 |
| Distance | 151,000 km (94,000 mi) |
| Flyby of Earth | |
| Closest approach | August 20, 1992 |
| Distance | ~900,000 km (560,000 mi) |
Suisei (すいせい; Japanese for Comet), originally known as Planet-A, was an unmanned space probe developed by the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (now part of the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA).
It constituted a part of the Halley Armada together with Sakigake, the Soviet/French Vega probes, the ESA Giotto and the NASA International Cometary Explorer, to explore Halley's Comet during its 1986 sojourn through the inner solar system.
Suisei was identical in construction and shape to Sakigake, but carried a different payload: a CCD UV imaging system and a solar wind instrument.
The main objective of the mission was to take UV images of the hydrogen corona for about 30 days before and after Comet Halley's descending crossing of the ecliptic plane. Solar wind parameters were measured for a much longer time period. The spacecraft is spin-stabilized at two different rates (5 and 0.2 rpm). Hydrazine thrusters are used for attitude and velocity control; star and sun sensors are for attitude control; and a mechanically despun off-set parabolic dish is used for long range communication.
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