Hakucho was Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

's first X-ray astronomy

X-ray astronomy

X-ray astronomy is an observational branch of astronomy which deals with the study of X-ray observation and detection from astronomical objects. X-radiation is absorbed by the Earth's atmosphere, so instruments to detect X-rays must be taken to high altitude by balloons, sounding rockets, and...

 satellite

Satellite

In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....

, developed by the Institute of Space and Aeronautical Science (then a division of the University of Tokyo

University of Tokyo

, abbreviated as , is a major research university located in Tokyo, Japan. The University has 10 faculties with a total of around 30,000 students, 2,100 of whom are foreign. Its five campuses are in Hongō, Komaba, Kashiwa, Shirokane and Nakano. It is considered to be the most prestigious university...

). It was launched by the ISAS M-3C-4

Mu (rocket)

The Mu, also known as M, was a series of Japanese solid-fuelled carrier rockets, which were launched from Uchinoura between 1966 and 2006...

rocket on February 21, 1979 and reentered the atmosphere on April 16, 1985.

It was a replacement for the CORSA satellite which failed to launch due to rocket failure on February 4, 1976.

Highlights

• Discovery of soft X-ray transient Cen X-4 and Apl X-1
• Discovery of many burst sources
• Long-term monitoring of X-ray pulsar (e.g. Vela X-1)
• Discovery of 2 Hz variability in the Rapid Burster later named Quasi Period Oscillation.

External links

• http://www.isas.jaxa.jp/e/enterp/missions/complate/hakucho.shtml
• http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/hakucho/hakucho.html