Nozomi (probe)
Artist's concept of Nozomi
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| Names | Planet B (before launch) |
|---|---|
| Mission type | Orbiter |
| Operator | JAXA |
| COSPAR ID | 1998-041A |
| SATCAT no. | 25383 |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Launch mass | 258 kilograms (569 lb) |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 18:12, July 4, 1998 |
| Rocket | M-V |
| Launch site | Uchinoura Space Center |
| End of mission | |
| Last contact | December 9, 2003 |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Heliocentric |
Nozomi (のぞみ) (Japanese for "Wish" or "Hope," and known before launch as Planet-B) was a planned and launched Mars-orbiting aeronomy probe. It did not reach Mars orbit due to electrical failures. The mission was terminated on December 31, 2003.
It was constructed by the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, University of Tokyo and launched on July 4, 1998 at 03:12 JST (18:12 UTC) with an on-orbit dry mass of 258 kg and 282 kg of propellant.
Nozomi was designed to study the upper Martian atmosphere and its interaction with the solar wind and to develop technologies for use in future planetary missions. Specifically, instruments on the spacecraft were to measure the structure, composition and dynamics of the ionosphere, aeronomy effects of the solar wind, the escape of atmospheric constituents, the intrinsic magnetic field, the penetration of the solar-wind magnetic field, the structure of the magnetosphere, and dust in the upper atmosphere and in orbit around Mars. The mission would have also returned images of Mars' surface.
After launch on the third M-V launch vehicle, Nozomi was put into an elliptical geocentric parking orbit with a perigee of 340 km and an apogee of 400,000 km.
The spacecraft used a lunar swingby on September 24, 1998 and another on December 18, 1998 to increase the apogee of its orbit.
It flew by Earth on December 20, 1998 at a perigee of about 1000 km. The gravitational assist from the flyby coupled with a 7 minute burn of the bipropellant rocket put Nozomi into an escape trajectory towards Mars. It was scheduled to arrive at Mars on October 11, 1999 at 7:45:14 UT, but a malfunctioning valve during the Earth swingby resulted in a loss of fuel and left the spacecraft with insufficient acceleration to reach its planned trajectory. Two course correction burns on December 21 used more propellant than planned, leaving the spacecraft short of fuel.
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