Tatsuaki Hashimoto

Mars Imaging Camera (MIC) on-board PLANET-B, the first Japanese Mars mission named NOZOMI, is a small and lightweight CCD camera.The CCD has three lines with each line covered with a red, green, and blue filter, respectively, for spectral separation.It is aligned almost parallel to the spin axis and is designed to take two-dimensional images using the spacecraft's spin. The preflight camera charateristics required for geometric and radiometric corrections of the image were defined.We employed several ways to validate the overall imaging function and the performance of MIC.In-flight calibration of the camera has been performed since the launch of the spacecraft.

MUSES-C is a sample return mission program of ISAS toward the asteroid NEREUS. The mission requires innovative guidance and navigation control technology such as interplanetary cruise, approach toward the asteroid, touch-down, and take-off.This paper reports the development of four sensors, star tracker, lidar, laser range finder, fan beam sensor, for guidance and navigation control system of MUSES-C.

The paper describes details of the antenna deploy experiment of the scientific satellite HALCA conducted on 24 to 28,February 1997. HALCA was launched on 12 February 1997 by the ISAS's new rocket M-V for the purpose of engineering experiments on the technologies necessary for space VLBI and radio astronomical observations by space VLBI. HALCA has been designed as an orbiting radio telescope, and deployment of a parabolic antenna with an effective aperture diameter of 8 meters, the aperture of which is made of molybdenum mesh and a tremendous number of cables, was the largest engineering challenge in the HALCA's engineering experiments. The deploy of the antenna was successfully conducted following an operational sequence carefully of the antenna was successfully conducted following an operational sequence carefully designed and prepared. The success of the antenna deployment has opened a way towards the successful space VLBI experiments that HALCA has conducted since the first reception of a signal from a celestial radio source on 24 March 1997.