Hinode (satellite)
Hinode (/ˈhiːnoʊdeɪ/; Japanese: ひので, IPA: [çinode], Sunrise), formerly Solar-B, is a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Solar mission with United States and United Kingdom collaboration. It is the follow-up to the Yohkoh (Solar-A) mission and it was launched on the final flight of the M-V rocket from Uchinoura Space Center, Japan on 22 September 2006 at 21:36 UTC (23 September, 06:36 JST). Initial orbit was perigee height 280 km, apogee height 686 km, inclination 98.3 degrees. Then the satellite maneuvered to the quasi-circular Sun-synchronous orbit over the day/night terminator, which allows near-continuous observation of the Sun. On 28 October 2006, the probe's instruments captured their first images.
Artist's impression of the Hinode spacecraft (then known as Solar-B) in orbit | |
| Names | Solar-B |
|---|---|
| Operator | JAXA / NASA / PPARC |
| COSPAR ID | 2006-041A |
| SATCAT no. | 29479 |
| Website | JAXA Hinode mission,NASA Hinode mission |
| Mission duration | Elapsed: 17 years, 6 months and 27 days |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Launch mass | 700 kg |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 21:36:00, 22 September 2006 (UTC) |
| Rocket | M-V rocket |
| Launch site | Uchinoura Space Center |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | sun-synchronous orbit |
| Main | |
| Wavelengths | Optical, X-ray, EUV |
| Instruments | |
| Solar Optical Telescope (SOT) X-ray Telescope (XRT) Extreme-Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer (EIS) | |
Solar Terrestrial Probes program | |
The data from Hinode are being downloaded to the Norwegian, terrestrial Svalsat station, operated by Kongsberg a few kilometres west of Longyearbyen, Svalbard. From there, data is transmitted by Telenor through a fibre-optic network to mainland Norway at Harstad, and on to data users in North America, Europe and Japan.