Shin'en (UNITEC-1)
Shin'en (UNITEC-1) — a small probe built by UNISEC, a consortium of Japanese universities, and launched with Akatsuki and IKAROS on 20 May 2010 (UTC), meant to be the first student-built spacecraft to operate beyond Earth orbit. Its beacon was received only on its first day, the last packet on 21 May from 320,000 km; UNISEC's likely explanation is that the cold left its transmitter short of power. Silent, it flew past Venus in December 2010. (Its position here is representative.)
Key facts
Mission & specifications
Mission
- Operator
- UNISEC (Japan)
- Launched
- May 20, 2010
- Status
- Lost
Trajectory
- Distance from the Sun
- 0.726 AU
- Computed from the cached position
- Distance from Earth
- 0.345 AU
- Computed from cached positions
- Distance from Venus
- 0.137 AU
- Computed from cached positions
Mission
Shin'en, formally UNITEC-1, was built by UNISEC, a consortium of about 20 Japanese universities. The small probe rode the H-IIA that launched Akatsuki and IKAROS from Tanegashima on 20 May 2010 at 21:58 UTC, and was meant to be the first student-built spacecraft to operate beyond Earth orbit. Its beacon was received only on its first day. The last packet arrived from 320,000 km away, at 15:41 to 15:43 UTC on 21 May 2010. UNISEC kept listening until 31 May and heard nothing more; its likely explanation is that the cold left the transmitter short of power. Silent, it followed its path past Venus in December 2010; no distance has been published.
- 2010Shin'en launches toward Venus on an H-IIA rocketLaunch
With Akatsuki and IKAROS.
- 2010Last signalMission end
Its last packet, from 320,000 km.
Images
No openly licensed image of Shin'en has been found.