NickDG 23 #1 December 7, 2010 Julia might be late coming home tonight. JAXA is the Japanese equivalent of NASA and they launched a space craft called Akatsuki (literally means "Dawn") in May of 2010. It was meant to orbit sweltering Venus for two years observing its weather patterns. But the engine burn that would allow the spacecraft to be captured by Venus' gravity failed in that it only burned for half its programmed time. JAXA declared an emergency (throwing open the doors to international assistance) and Julia who is the project manager for JPLs network array of earth based radio telescopes made intermittent contact with the spacecraft and they are now trying desperately to upload new instructions to Akatsuki's onboard computers Or more specifically upload a patch to its failed software. I'm hoping Julia's team can do something. After all the motto at JPL is - Don't leave Earth without us! NickD Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites NickDG 23 #2 December 7, 2010 Well, it's now officially a "bad day." While JPL managed to get a reliable lock on communications up and down with Akatsuki and write the new software instructions, in the meantime the slide rule math said even if they re-lit the engine and burned all the remaining fuel, the spacecraft still wouldn't achieve a sufficient capture orbit. Akatsuki will now eventually get pulled into the Sun . . . NickD Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites JerryBaumchen 1,467 #3 December 8, 2010 Hi Nick, Quote Akatsuki will now eventually get pulled into the Sun . . . That's where we're all headed. JerryBaumchen Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites cocheese 0 #4 December 8, 2010 That's awesome that she had the chance to try. Cheers to Julia and her team! Set the controls for the heart of the sunhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ze-p4e6rJaM&feature=related Edit to add the lyrics: "Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun" Little by little the night turns around. Counting the leaves which tremble at dawn Lotuses lean on each other in yearning Under the eaves the swallow is resting Set the controls for the heart of the sun. Over the mountain watching the watcher. Breaking the darkness, waking the grapevine. One inch of love is one inch of shadow Love is the shadow that ripens the wine. Set the controls for the heart of the sun. The heart of the sun, the heart of the sun. Witness the man who raves at the wall Making the shape of his questions to Heaven Whether the sun will fall in the evening Will he remember the lesson of giving? Set the controls for the heart of the sun. The heart of the sun, the heart of the sun. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Join the conversation You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account. Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible. Reply to this topic... × Pasted as rich text. Paste as plain text instead Only 75 emoji are allowed. × Your link has been automatically embedded. Display as a link instead × Your previous content has been restored. Clear editor × You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL. Insert image from URL × Desktop Tablet Phone Submit Reply 0
NickDG 23 #2 December 7, 2010 Well, it's now officially a "bad day." While JPL managed to get a reliable lock on communications up and down with Akatsuki and write the new software instructions, in the meantime the slide rule math said even if they re-lit the engine and burned all the remaining fuel, the spacecraft still wouldn't achieve a sufficient capture orbit. Akatsuki will now eventually get pulled into the Sun . . . NickD Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JerryBaumchen 1,467 #3 December 8, 2010 Hi Nick, Quote Akatsuki will now eventually get pulled into the Sun . . . That's where we're all headed. JerryBaumchen Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cocheese 0 #4 December 8, 2010 That's awesome that she had the chance to try. Cheers to Julia and her team! Set the controls for the heart of the sunhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ze-p4e6rJaM&feature=related Edit to add the lyrics: "Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun" Little by little the night turns around. Counting the leaves which tremble at dawn Lotuses lean on each other in yearning Under the eaves the swallow is resting Set the controls for the heart of the sun. Over the mountain watching the watcher. Breaking the darkness, waking the grapevine. One inch of love is one inch of shadow Love is the shadow that ripens the wine. Set the controls for the heart of the sun. The heart of the sun, the heart of the sun. Witness the man who raves at the wall Making the shape of his questions to Heaven Whether the sun will fall in the evening Will he remember the lesson of giving? Set the controls for the heart of the sun. The heart of the sun, the heart of the sun. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
