Wed, Jan 25, 2006
Launch Delayed By Weather, Faulty Equipment
Just as it was for
NASA's launch last week of the New Horizons probe, third time
appears to have also been the charm for Japan's Advanced Land
Observation Satellite (ALOS). The four-ton satellite lifted off
atop an H-2A rocket Tuesday, after three launch delays attributed
to both bad weather and faulty equipment.
The satellite -- nicknamed Daichi, or "Ground" -- carries
sensors for terrain mapping and all-weather observations of the
entire Asia-Pacific region.
The Associated Press reports Tuesday's successful launch of ALOS
clears the way for two more -- spy satellites, that will monitor
the ground in North Korea and in other trouble spots on that part
of the world.
Japan approved the spy satellite program eight years ago, after
North Korea launched a missile over the Japanese mainland (that
kind of thing tends to irritate a little.)
Perhaos just as importantly, the successful launch should also
give a shot in the arm to Japan's space program -- which was
needing a success lately, after the delay in the anticipated report
of the Hayabusa probe, now set for 2010 at the earliest.
In November 2003, the first two satellites launched as part of
the spy satellite program were also destroyed after the rocket
carrying them was detonated, after a booster failed to detach after
launch.
Spurred on by China's recent success in launching manned
spacecraft, Japan's space agency JAXA has also announced plans to
put astronauts of their own into orbit in the future, culminating
in a planned moon base no later than 2025.
That marks a significant shift in Japan's space policy -- which
previously focused exclusively on unmanned flights.
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