SPRINT-A (HISAKI)

10-day predictions
SPRINT-A (HISAKI) is classified as:

Space & Earth Science

NORAD ID: 39253

Int'l Code: 2013-049A

Launch date: September 14, 2013
Source: Japan (JPN)
Launch site: KAGOSHIMA SPACE CENTER UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO (KSCUT)

SPRINT-A stands for the Spectroscopic Planet Observatory for Recognition of Interaction of Atmosphere. The satellite was manufactured by NEC Corp. Keeping with the JAXA tradition of renaming satellites after launch, officials christened the 767 pound (348 kg) observatory Hisaki after a cape near the mission's launch site in Kagoshima prefecture. Hisaki also translates to "beyond the sun" in English. Hisaki's one-year mission is to observe the atmospheres of Mars and Venus, along with the immense magnetic field of Jupiter, to study how the planets respond to the solar wind, a stream of charged particles coming from the sun. The craft's 20 centimeter, or 7.9 inch, ultraviolet telescope and will peer at Mars and Venus to help researchers learn how the solar wind can strip a planet's atmosphere, prompting drastic climate changes and eradicating any life that may have existed there.