6.6 Space Observations and High-Energy Astrophysics
6.6.1 Institute of Space and Astronautical Science
and Scientific Satellites
The history of space observation in Japan began in 1955 with the pencil-rocket
experiment by Itokawa Hideo and his group at the Institute of Industrial Science (生
産技術研究所) of the University of Tokyo. In 1964, the ISAS (宇宙科学研究所)
was established at the University of Tokyo. In 1970, Japan’s first artificial satellite,
OHSUMI, was launched and put into orbit by a rocket using solid propellant. Since
then, ISAS has made great strides in promoting space science.
In 1981, ISAS was reborn as a joint research organization among Japanese
universities, and more than 20 satellite and space explorers were launched into
orbit by the end of the twentieth century. The main scientific satellites and solar
system explorers are shown in Table 6.3.
As seen in Table 6.3, the early phase of space observation was directed at the Sun
and the terrestrial environment such as auroras and the magnetosphere. The second
decade was mostly devoted to X-ray astronomy conducted by Oda Minoru. In the
1980s, the most stunning event was observations of Comet Halley, which
approached the Sun in 1987 after 76 years of orbital motion. The spacecraft that
participated in Halley observations were SAKIGAKE, SUISEI (Japan), VEGA I and
II (USSR), GIOTTO (Europe), and ICE (USA). This was the largest scale of
international collaboration in the history of space observation, and it was called
the Halley fleet of spacecraft. SAKIGAKE was originally the first test explorer to
Fig. 6.27 Image of Galaxy seen from VERA. The left panel shows a solar neighbor. Red marks
indicate the objects used to measure both parallaxes and proper motions, while blue marks are the
objects used to measure the proper-motions. (Honma et al. 2010)
166
6 Postwar Development of Astrophysics, 1946–2000 (Part I: Instrumentation)
6.6.1 Institute of Space and Astronautical Science
and Scientific Satellites
The history of space observation in Japan began in 1955 with the pencil-rocket
experiment by Itokawa Hideo and his group at the Institute of Industrial Science (生
産技術研究所) of the University of Tokyo. In 1964, the ISAS (宇宙科学研究所)
was established at the University of Tokyo. In 1970, Japan’s first artificial satellite,
OHSUMI, was launched and put into orbit by a rocket using solid propellant. Since
then, ISAS has made great strides in promoting space science.
In 1981, ISAS was reborn as a joint research organization among Japanese
universities, and more than 20 satellite and space explorers were launched into
orbit by the end of the twentieth century. The main scientific satellites and solar
system explorers are shown in Table 6.3.
As seen in Table 6.3, the early phase of space observation was directed at the Sun
and the terrestrial environment such as auroras and the magnetosphere. The second
decade was mostly devoted to X-ray astronomy conducted by Oda Minoru. In the
1980s, the most stunning event was observations of Comet Halley, which
approached the Sun in 1987 after 76 years of orbital motion. The spacecraft that
participated in Halley observations were SAKIGAKE, SUISEI (Japan), VEGA I and
II (USSR), GIOTTO (Europe), and ICE (USA). This was the largest scale of
international collaboration in the history of space observation, and it was called
the Halley fleet of spacecraft. SAKIGAKE was originally the first test explorer to
Fig. 6.27 Image of Galaxy seen from VERA. The left panel shows a solar neighbor. Red marks
indicate the objects used to measure both parallaxes and proper motions, while blue marks are the
objects used to measure the proper-motions. (Honma et al. 2010)
166
6 Postwar Development of Astrophysics, 1946–2000 (Part I: Instrumentation)