NORAD ID: 28939 Int'l Code: 2006-005A
Perigee: 449.5 km
Apogee: 697.5 km
Inclination: 98.3 °
Period: 96.0 minutes
Semi major axis: 6,944.5 km
Launch date: February 21, 2006
Source: Japan (JPN)
Comments: Akari, also known by its pre-launch name Astro-F, is a Japanese (JAXA/ISAS) astrophysics mission. The rocket also released a 3.6 kg picosatellite, named Cute 1.7 to train students at the Tokyo Institute of Technology. The 955 kg satellite carries a Ritchey-Chretien, F/6.1 infrared telescope with aperture 67 cm and focal length 420 cm. It carries two focal plane instruments kept at a temperature of 6 K (-450?F) by 170 liter of liquid helium. Akari is expected to provide a significant advance over the results from the earlier NASA/ESA mission, IRAS (1983-004A).
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