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IKAROS
IKAROS (Interplanetary Kite-craft Accelerated by Radiation Of the Sun) is a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) experimental spacecraft. The spacecraft was launched on 20 May 2010, aboard an H-IIA rocket, together with the Akatsuki (Venus Climate Orbiter) probe and four other small spacecraft. IKAROS is the first spacecraft to successfully demonstrate solar sail technology in interplanetary space. The craft's name is an allusion to the legendary Icarus (Ancient Greek: Ἴκαρος, Ikaros), who flew close to the Sun on wings made of bird-feathers and wax.
On 8 December 2010, IKAROS flew by Venus at a distance of 80,800 km (50,200 mi), successfully completing its planned mission, and entered its extended operation phase. Its last transmission was received in 2015. The operation was terminated officially on 15 May 2025.
The IKAROS probe is the world's first spacecraft to use solar sailing as the main propulsion. It was designed to demonstrate four key technologies (comments in parentheses refer to diagram below right):
The mission also includes investigations of aspects of interplanetary space, such as gamma-ray bursts, solar wind and cosmic dust.
The probe's ALADDIN instrument (ALDN-S and ALDN-E) measured the variation in dust density while its Gamma-Ray Burst Polarimeter (GAP) measured the polarization of gamma-ray bursts during its six-month cruise.
IKAROS was to be followed by a 40 by 40 metres (130 ft × 130 ft) sail, the Jupiter Trojan Asteroid Explorer, which was intended to journey to Jupiter and the Trojan asteroids, with a proposed goal of returning an asteroid sample to Earth in the 2050s. The Jupiter Trojan Asteroid Explorer was a finalist for Japan's Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS)' 2nd Large Mission Class. The winning mission was LiteBIRD.
The square sail, deployed via a spinning motion using 0.5-kilogram (1.1 lb) tip masses (key item 1 in figure at right), is 20 m (66 ft) on the diagonal and is made of a 7.5-micrometre (0.00030 in) thick sheet of polyimide (key item 3 in figure at right). The polyimide sheet had a mass of about 10 grams per square metre (0.033 oz/sq ft), resulting in a total sail mass of 2 kilograms (4.4 lb), excluding tip masses, attached panels and tethers. A thin-film solar array is embedded in the sail (key item 4 in figure at right). PowerFilm, Inc. provided the thin-film solar array. Eighty blocks of LCD panels are embedded in the sail, whose reflectance can be adjusted for attitude control (key item 2 in figure at right). The sail also contains eight dust counters on the opposite face as part of the science payload.
IKAROS was successfully launched together with Akatsuki (the Venus Climate Orbiter) aboard an H-IIA rocket from the Tanegashima Space Center on 21 May 2010.[citation needed]
Hub AI
IKAROS AI simulator
(@IKAROS_simulator)
IKAROS
IKAROS (Interplanetary Kite-craft Accelerated by Radiation Of the Sun) is a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) experimental spacecraft. The spacecraft was launched on 20 May 2010, aboard an H-IIA rocket, together with the Akatsuki (Venus Climate Orbiter) probe and four other small spacecraft. IKAROS is the first spacecraft to successfully demonstrate solar sail technology in interplanetary space. The craft's name is an allusion to the legendary Icarus (Ancient Greek: Ἴκαρος, Ikaros), who flew close to the Sun on wings made of bird-feathers and wax.
On 8 December 2010, IKAROS flew by Venus at a distance of 80,800 km (50,200 mi), successfully completing its planned mission, and entered its extended operation phase. Its last transmission was received in 2015. The operation was terminated officially on 15 May 2025.
The IKAROS probe is the world's first spacecraft to use solar sailing as the main propulsion. It was designed to demonstrate four key technologies (comments in parentheses refer to diagram below right):
The mission also includes investigations of aspects of interplanetary space, such as gamma-ray bursts, solar wind and cosmic dust.
The probe's ALADDIN instrument (ALDN-S and ALDN-E) measured the variation in dust density while its Gamma-Ray Burst Polarimeter (GAP) measured the polarization of gamma-ray bursts during its six-month cruise.
IKAROS was to be followed by a 40 by 40 metres (130 ft × 130 ft) sail, the Jupiter Trojan Asteroid Explorer, which was intended to journey to Jupiter and the Trojan asteroids, with a proposed goal of returning an asteroid sample to Earth in the 2050s. The Jupiter Trojan Asteroid Explorer was a finalist for Japan's Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS)' 2nd Large Mission Class. The winning mission was LiteBIRD.
The square sail, deployed via a spinning motion using 0.5-kilogram (1.1 lb) tip masses (key item 1 in figure at right), is 20 m (66 ft) on the diagonal and is made of a 7.5-micrometre (0.00030 in) thick sheet of polyimide (key item 3 in figure at right). The polyimide sheet had a mass of about 10 grams per square metre (0.033 oz/sq ft), resulting in a total sail mass of 2 kilograms (4.4 lb), excluding tip masses, attached panels and tethers. A thin-film solar array is embedded in the sail (key item 4 in figure at right). PowerFilm, Inc. provided the thin-film solar array. Eighty blocks of LCD panels are embedded in the sail, whose reflectance can be adjusted for attitude control (key item 2 in figure at right). The sail also contains eight dust counters on the opposite face as part of the science payload.
IKAROS was successfully launched together with Akatsuki (the Venus Climate Orbiter) aboard an H-IIA rocket from the Tanegashima Space Center on 21 May 2010.[citation needed]