back to article Hacked Japanese space probe sends back first pictures of Venus

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has released the first photographs of Venus taken by its much-delayed Akatsuki planetary probe. Akatsuki (meaning Dawn) was due to have been in orbit five years ago, but its main engine failed as it was making its final maneuver, off around the Sun. Years of careful rocketry from …

  1. Palpy

    Wow! Just like --

    -- Red Dwarf! Except five years lost in space instead of three million. And no Cat. Or Rimmer. Or Lister.

    Well, not very like, really, I suppose. Nevertheless, a very cool recovery of a nearly-lost mission. Sake all around.

    1. PeeKay

      Re: Wow! Just like --

      Played Kerbal Space Program much to get that rocketry right? Fantastic work by those guys indeed!

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Wow! Just like --

        I know all is complete in the universe when it's a KSP reference in connection with some IRL space exploration. KSP being so close to the real thing.

        I mean, who has not knocked off a main engine or over cooked a burn, to then have to make a couple more passes and use just some RCS thrusters to get the final capture to orbit...

    2. MrRimmerSIR!
      Flame

      Re: Wow! Just like --

      It's cold outside,

      there's no kind of atmosphere...

      Except it's Venus so it's actually bloody hot.

  2. DropBear

    A 400km : 440,000km elliptical orbit...? Whooo boy, that really is a bit of swinging right there...

  3. hughca
    Alert

    "The first images aren't the best we're going to see by far, since the spacecraft is so far away from the target, and it won't be until April that they will be operating at the proper altitude"

    While they will be lowering their apoapsis over the coming months the periapsis is already 400km, so once every 13 days 14 hours they're already getting about as close as they plan to. According to the JAXA site the two images posted in this article were taken from an altitude of 72000kms.

  4. Spender

    periapsis, apoapsis muddle....

    The orbital measurements in this article are back to front.

    The periapsis is the lowest part of the orbit and the apoapsis the highest.

    I'm surprised that they're flying a knackered spacecraft so low. Atmospheric drag at 400km above Venus will be significant.

    1. hughca

      Lost in translation?

      To be fair to El Reg it's a quote and the source is wrong.

      Also I agree on the 400km periapsis, I was surprised to read that it's so low but the JAXA article doesn't mention raising it so I guess it's intentional...?

      1. Steven Roper

        Re: Lost in translation?

        That they've managed to achieve planetary orbit at all solely on auxiliary thrusters is a testament to the ingenuity of the scientists involved. I'd say they'll likely try to circularise the orbit if they have enough fuel left, possibly combined with aerobraking at the periapsis (where the orbital velocity would be highest.) Circularising the orbit with such a high apoapsis would raise the periapsis well beyond atmospheric range once completed.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: periapsis, apoapsis muddle....

      If we are being precise, the use of the generic terms apoapsis and periapsis could be improved by using the Venus specific terms apocytherion and pericytherion.

      (ref: Deep Space Craft: An Overview of Interplanetary Flight By Dave Doody)

      Not that it really matters....

      1. Ugotta B. Kiddingme
        Thumb Up

        Re: @ EastFinchleyite- periapsis, apoapsis muddle....

        Actually, I think it does matter a bit. For example, prior to this article, I was blissfully unaware that "apogee/perigee" was specific only to Earth. I knew that "helion" was for solar orbits but thought "gee" was for all others. I am now corrected and even more educated on the terminology thanks to your further detail.

        This, plus the clever and patient boffinry to turn the lemons into Venusian lemonade? Much win.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: @ EastFinchleyite- periapsis, apoapsis muddle....

          ...and while we're at it:

          Shouldn't "Venusian" be something else, such as "Veneran" or "Venerean" or even "Venereal"?

          (Yes I know, but it can't be helped, it is the same linguistic root. Well, can we agree on "Cytherean" then?)

          1. Ugotta B. Kiddingme
            Joke

            Re: @ EastFinchleyite- periapsis, apoapsis muddle....

            'Shouldn't "Venusian" be something else, such as "Veneran" or "Venerean" or even "Venereal"?'

            No, because Venereal Lemonade tastes completely different...

      2. Steven Roper

        Re: periapsis, apoapsis muddle....

        In light of this discussion I here submit my proposed list of apo-/peri- suffixes for major solar system bodies. Some are gleaned from science fiction works, KSP, known scientific terms and some I just derived based on an imprecise algorithm of prefixing apo- and peri- to possessive tenses of Greek deities:

        aphelion / perihelion: Sun (General scientific term)

        apohermion / perihermion: Mercury (My guess: Mercury = Hermes)

        apocytherion / pericytherion: Venus (See comments above: Cytherian = Venusian)

        apogee / perigee: Earth (General scientific term)

        apolune / perilune: Moon (Used in the Apollo program)

        apoareon / periareon: Mars (My guess: Ares = Mars)

        apojove / perijove: Jupiter (Arthur C. Clarke used this in 2010)

        apochrone / perichrone: Saturn (My guess: Chronos = Saturn)

        apourane / periourane: Uranus (My guess: Ouranos = Uranus)

        aposeidion / periposeidion: Neptune (My guess: Poseidon = Neptune)

        apodemetrion / peridemetrion: Ceres (My guess: Demeter = Ceres)

        apohadeon / perihadeon: Pluto (My guess: Hades = Pluto*)

        apastron / periastrion: orbit of any star other than the Sun (Brian Aldiss used this in his Helliconia trilogy)

        apoapsis / periapsis: orbit of any object without specificity (this article and KSP)

        ---

        *The recent New Horizons encounter with Pluto didn't involve orbiting that body, so technically the terms apohadeon and perihadeon don't apply. At least, I never saw them or any similar apo-/peri- term used by the New Horizons team.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I'm not sure about it being hacked. What they did was more like patching round the problem.

    1. phuzz Silver badge
      Windows

      Back in the day, that was what we used to call hacking.

      1. FrankAlphaXII

        Some of us still do....

        Thought admittedly its a lost battle in that regard.

  6. Your alien overlord - fear me

    The UV image - centre above the dark stripe in the middle - doesn't it look like a bloke's face with a large nose and a goatee?

  7. Sanctimonious Prick
    Happy

    @Your alien overlord - fear me

    Leaning head over to the right...

    It's Santa taking a nap :)

  8. Fizzle
    Headmaster

    Gotten...

    What sort of English is that?

    Sheesh..

    1. Dan 55 Silver badge

      Re: Gotten...

      Leftpondian.

      They're unable to comprehend that they're wrong, but as good rightpondians we won't hold that against them.

    2. Anonymous John

      Re: Gotten...

      A good old English word used in the USA but not in the UK. Apart from "ill-gotten" that is. And "forgotten".

      1. Chris G

        Re: Gotten...

        Gotten would have been: n common use in the UK around the time the Pilgrim Fathers buggered off on the Mayflower, it fell out of use in the UK but has remained on the left side. I suppose if language is democratic then English the way the yanks speak it is in the majority.

        Having lived over ther for a while I find I use gotten quite often.

      2. Swarthy

        Re: Gotten...

        A good old English word used in the USA but not in the UK. Apart from "ill-gotten" that is. And "forgotten".
        Don't forget misbegotten, one of my favorites.

  9. Anonymous John

    "We also found that the orbiter is flying in the same direction as that of Venus's rotation."

    Found? Interplanetary navigation isn't a matter of luck. They must have known its trajectory far more precisely than thousands of miles.

  10. NotBob
    Joke

    Naming

    Given the delay, perhaps the name should be changed to something meaning "dusk" instead...

    1. Ugotta B. Kiddingme
      Joke

      Re: Naming "something meaning 'dusk' instead..."

      or "sorry I'm late, you wouldn't BELIEVE what I had to go through just to get here"

  11. Will Godfrey Silver badge
    Thumb Up

    Go Boffins!

    A big plus for perseverance

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