Akari
Akari is a Japanese given name and term meaning "light" or "glimmer". It is also associated with:
Works
People
Characters
List of To Heart series characters
A list of characters from To Heart and To Heart 2.
To Heart
Main characters
Secondary characters
Minor characters
To Heart 2
Main characters
Additional heroines in Another Days
Secondary characters
References
Akari (satellite)
Akari (ASTRO-F) is an infrared astronomy satellite developed by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, in cooperation with institutes of Europe and Korea. It was launched on 21 February 2006 at 21:28 UTC (06:28, 22 February JST) by M-V rocket into Earth sun-synchronous orbit. After its launch it was named Akari (明かり), which means light in Japanese.
Its primary mission was to survey the entire sky in near-, mid- and far-infrared, through its 68.5 cm (27.0 in) aperture telescope.
Technical design
Its designed lifespan, of far- and mid-infrared sensors, is 550 days, limited by its liquid helium coolant.
Its telescope mirror is made of silicon carbide to save weight. The budget for the satellite was ¥13,4 billion (~US$110 million).
History
By mid-August 2006, Akari finished around 50 percent of the all sky survey.
By early November 2006, first (phase-1) all-sky survey finished. Second (phase-2) all-sky survey started on 10 November 2006.
Due to the malfunction of sun-sensor after the launch, ejection of telescope aperture lid was delayed, resulting the coolant lifespan estimate to be shortened to about 500 days from launch. However, after JAXA estimated the remaining helium during early March 2007 observation time will be extended at least until 9 September.
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