OMOTENASHI (Outstanding MOon exploration TEchnologies demonstrated by NAno Semi-Hard Impactor) was a small spacecraft and semi-hard lander of the 6U CubeSat format intended to demonstrate low-cost technology to land and explore the lunar surface. The CubeSat was to take measurements of the radiation environment near the Moon as well as on the lunar surface. Omotenashi is a Japanese word for "welcome" or "Hospitality".[2][6]
Names | Outstanding MOon exploration TEchnologies demonstrated by NAno Semi-Hard Impactor |
---|---|
Mission type | Technology demonstrator, Reconnaissance |
Operator | JAXA |
COSPAR ID | 2022-156D |
SATCAT no. | 55904 |
Website | www |
Mission duration | 1 day |
Spacecraft properties | |
Spacecraft | OMOTENASHI |
Spacecraft type | CubeSat |
Bus | 6U CubeSat |
Manufacturer | JAXA |
Launch mass | 12.6 kg (28 lb)[1] |
Dimensions | 10 cm × 20 cm × 30 cm |
Power | 30 watts [2] |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | 16 November 2022, 06:47:44 UTC[3] |
Rocket | SLS Block 1 |
Launch site | Kennedy, LC-39B |
Contractor | NASA |
End of mission | |
Last contact | Working to restore communications[4] |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Selenocentric orbit |
Moon impactor | |
Spacecraft component | Orbiter and lander |
Transponders | |
Band | X-band, S-band, P-band[5][2] |
Instruments | |
Radiation monitor Accelerometer | |
OMOTENASHI was one of ten CubeSats launched with the Artemis 1 mission into a heliocentric orbit in cislunar space on the maiden flight of the Space Launch System (SLS), that took place on 16 November 2022.[3][7]
After deployment from the Artemis I second stage, JAXA reported unstable communications with the spacecraft.[8] On 21 November 2022, a Twitter message sent by JAXA reported that further attempts to communicate with the lander, which was scheduled to begin its landing sequences that day, had been ended.[9]
Etymology
editThe Japanese term omotenashi (お持て成し) means "hospitality".
Overview
editThe OMOTENASHI mission was to land the smallest lunar lander up to then on the lunar surface to demonstrate the feasibility of the hardware for distributed synergistic exploration system with multi-point exploration. Once on the lunar surface, the OMOTENASHI lander was planned to observe the radiation environment of the lunar surface. The OMOTENASHI orbiter and lander were designed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). It was a 6U CubeSat measuring 10 cm × 20 cm × 30 cm, and had a mass of 14 kg (31 lb). The principal investigator was Tatsuaki Hashimoto from JAXA.[10] The spacecraft featured two body-fixed solar panels and lithium ion batteries. After measuring the radiation environment as it approached the Moon, OMOTENASHI's lander module was planned to perform a semi-hard landing on the lunar surface.[11]
Flight
editJAXA announced that OMOTENASHI had successfully separated from the ICPS interstage around 90 minutes after launch. However, as of November 17, 2022, the spacecraft had yet to achieve Sun acquisition, and communication was unstable. JAXA continued operations to "stabilise attitude, secure power and establish communication,"[12] but after failing to restore operations, they abandoned recovery attempts on November 22.[9][13] Reports indicate that the loss was due to failure of the solar cells to point toward the Sun.[14] The next time they would be facing towards the Sun was March 2023.[15][16] The team is considering recovery operations if they are able to reestablish contact with the spacecraft.[17]
Payload
editThe lander's scientific payload consisted of a radiation monitor and an accelerometer.[2]
Propulsion and proposed landing
editOMOTENASHI was to use a cold gas thruster to enter a lunar-impact orbit, and a solid-rocket motor for the landing phase.[5] The entry and landing phases would have been informed by the use of an X-band two-way Doppler radar.[5] The orbiting module was planned to enter at a shallow flight-path angle of ≤7°, and to be ejected when the solid-rocket burn begins the deceleration manoeuvre.[5] The rocket would have been ignited with a laser.[2][18] After the deceleration rocket burn that was planned to last 15–20 seconds,[18] OMOTENASHI's lander would have ejected the retrorocket, experiencing a free-fall of about 100 m. Just before impact, the lander was planned to deploy a single airbag about 50 cm in diameter to minimize the impact,[18][19] estimated to be at 20–30 m/s.[2][5]
Spacecraft components [18][5] |
Units/performance |
---|---|
Modules | * Orbiting module * Retro motor Module * Surface probe |
Surface probe | 0.7 kg [19] Battery: 30 Wh Consumption: 15 W |
Orbiter | 7 kg (including cold gas system) |
Propulsion | * Solid motor: 6 kg (2500 m/s) - includes solid fuel * Cold gas jet: (N2, 20 m/s) |
See also
edit- Near-Earth Asteroid Scout by NASA was a solar sail spacecraft that was planned to encounter a near-Earth asteroid (mission failure)
- BioSentinel is an astrobiology mission
- LunIR by Lockheed Martin Space
- Lunar IceCube, by the Morehead State University
- CubeSat for Solar Particles (CuSP)
- Lunar Polar Hydrogen Mapper (LunaH-Map), designed by the Arizona State University
- EQUULEUS, submitted by JAXA and the University of Tokyo
- OMOTENASHI, submitted by JAXA, was a lunar lander (mission failure)
- ArgoMoon, designed by Argotec and coordinated by Italian Space Agency (ASI)
- Team Miles, by Fluid and Reason LLC, Tampa, Florida
- The 3 CubeSat missions removed from Artemis 1
- Lunar Flashlight designed to map exposed water ice on the Moon
- Cislunar Explorers, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
- Earth Escape Explorer (CU-E3), University of Colorado Boulder
References
edit- ^ "OMOTENASHI". JAXA. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f "OMOTENASHI" (PDF). JAXA. 29 October 2016. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
- ^ a b Roulette, Joey; Gorman, Steve (16 November 2022). "NASA's next-generation Artemis mission heads to moon on debut test flight". Reuters. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
- ^ "OMOTENASHI". 22 November 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f "Trajectory Design for the JAXA Moon Nano-Lander OMOTENASHI". Digital Commons. 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
- ^ "Go To MOON! The World's Smallest Moon Lander: OMOTENASHI" (PDF). JAXA. 2017. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
- ^ Clark, Stephen (12 October 2021). "Adapter structure with 10 CubeSats installed on top of Artemis moon rocket". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
- ^ "Status of the JAXA CubeSats OMOTENASHI and EQUULEUS onboard Artemis I". JAXA. 17 November 2022. Retrieved 21 November 2022.
- ^ a b "OMOTENASHI Project official JAXA Twitter message". JAXA. 21 November 2022. Retrieved 21 November 2022.
- ^ "International Partners Provide Science Satellites for America's Space Launch System Maiden Flight". NASA. 26 May 2016. Retrieved 10 March 2021. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ "International Partners To Launch CubeSats On Orion Exploration Mission-1". Colaorado Space News. 26 May 2016. Archived from the original on 16 April 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
- ^ "Status of the JAXA CubeSats OMOTENASHI and EQUULEUS onboard NASA Artemis I". Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. 17 November 2022. Retrieved 21 November 2022.
- ^ "JAXA Gives Up on Landing Omotenashi Probe on Moon Archived 28 November 2022 at the Wayback Machine", Nippon.com, Nov 22, 2022. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
- ^ "Editorial: Failure of OMOTENASHI Should Lead to New Lunar Landing Attempts", Japan Forward, 28 November 2022. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
- ^ "JAXA's Ultra Small Lander OMOTENASHI Fails to Receive Transmissions from Earth".[permanent dead link ]
- ^ "OMOTENASHI twitter Update". Twitter. 22 November 2022. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
- ^ "OMOTENASHI Twitter about future". Twitter (in Japanese). 22 November 2022. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
- ^ a b c d "OMOTENASHI" (PDF). JAXA. 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
- ^ a b "OMOTENASHI - Mission Sequence". JAXA. 2017. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
External links
edit- (in Japanese) 月を目指す、わずか14kgの超小型探査機「OMOTENASHI」と「EQUULEUS」 鳥嶋真也, 13 September 2017
- NSSDCA page