The Hindu : Japanese probe hits snag

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jun 18, 2003

International

International - Globescan

Japanese probe hits snag

Tokyo: Five years late, low on fuel and with its heating system on the blink, Japan's first Mars-bound probe — the $88-million Nozomi, or ``Hope'' — appears to be in serious trouble. Mission controllers trying to keep the mission alive are to face a major test on Thursday, when Nozomi is scheduled to make its second swingby of Earth. The manoeuvre is intended to use the Earth's gravity as a slingshot to send the probe on its final trajectory to Mars. Experts admit the probe is limping. ``We are doing everything we can, but we don't know whether we will be able to succeed,'' Osamu Shimamoto, of the Education Ministry's Space Policy Division, said. ``We are praying that this swingby will work.'' A failure for the mission, one of several from around the world now aimed at the Red Planet, would be a great disappointment for Japan's space programme, which has been struggling with cost over runs and an apathetic public. Though launched much earlier, Nozomi is part of a fleet of probes now on their way to Mars. If it reaches the planet at all, it will likely arrive at about the same time as the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter and its British-built Beagle 2 lander, and two U.S. rovers.

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