Akari, formerly Japan’s ASTRO-F infrared space telescope, launches
toward space atop its M-5 rocket on Feb
Akari,
formerly Japan’s
ASTRO-F infrared space telescope, launches toward space atop its M-5 rocket on
Feb. 21 EST.
The Japan
Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched
the observatory at 4:28 p.m. EST (2128 GMT) from UchinouraSpaceCenter in the country’s Kagoshima district. The
2,098-pound (952-kilogram) Akari, which means
‘Light’, is expected to conduct a complete survey of the sky in the infrared
region of the light spectrum and study objects that would otherwise be obscured
to visible observations.
Akari –
the observatory was renamed once it reached space – is JAXA’s
first dedicated infrared observatory and is part of a joint mission with
researchers in Korea and Europe. The spacecraft is expected to orbit the Earth in
a polar orientation and an altitude of about 462 miles (745 kilometers) during
its 550-day mission.
