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Software Error Doomed Japanese Hitomi Spacecraft
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency blamed a software glitch for the demise of the Hitomi space telescope.
Credit: STR/AFP/Getty Images
Japan's flagship astronomical satellite Hitomi, which launched successfully on February 17 but tumbled out of control five weeks later, may have been doomed by a basic engineering error. Confused about how it was oriented in space and trying to stop itself from spinning, Hitomi's control system apparently commanded a thruster jet to fire in the wrong direction — accelerating, rather than slowing, the craft's rotation.
At least ten pieces — including both solar-array paddles that had provided electrical power — broke off the satellite's main body.
From Scientific American
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