ちばけんさんの おぼえた日記 - 2016年4月2日(土)

〇NEWS
JAXA: Satellite damaged due to internal trouble
観測衛星ひとみは内部トラブルか
NHK WORLD NEWS

Officials at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, JAXA, say their satellite may have gone offline due to internal damage.

JAXA officials on Friday gave an update on their X-ray astronomy satellite, Hitomi, which they launched in February. The probe was orbiting the Earth. They lost contact with it on Saturday last week.

They observed through a telescope that the satellite is spinning and losing control, apparently having broken off.

Officials now say one separated portion is about a meter long, and that they're working to identify it. They say the damage was not likely to have been caused by space debris.

They also say the satellite may still be partially functional since they received brief signals after the trouble was found.

JAXA engineers say they'll continue efforts to communicate with the satellite.

〇宇宙ごみとの衝突説もあったようだが、内部トラブルのようです。