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| .....Sakigake ('Pioneer')
is a test spacecraft similar to Suisei (Planet-A).
It flew by Comet P/Halley on its sunward
side at a distance of about 7 million
kilometers on March 11, 1986. It carried
three instruments to measure plasma wave
spectra, solar wind ions, and
interplanetary magnetic fields, all of
which worked normally. The spacecraft was
spin-stabilized at two different rates (5
and 0.2 rpm). It was equipped with
hydrazine thrusters for attitude and
velocity control, star and sun sensors
for attitude determination, and a
mechanically despun off-set parabolic
dish for long-range communication.
Sakigake made an Earth swingby on January
8, 1992. The closest approach was at 23h08m47s
(JST, = UTC+9h) with a geocentric
distance of 88,997 km. This was the first
planet-swingby for a Japanese spacecraft.
During the approach, Sakigake observed
the geotail. A geotail passage occurred
at 290 Re on 14 June 1993 before ISTP's
multi-spacecraft investigation of that
region. |
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