Japanese minimalism: The Japanese in space. Japanese space program Japanese space rocket

19:32 05/02/2018

0 👁 802

The most important thing the Japanese learned after being brought to their senses by the world community in 1945 was to disguise their military preparations. Then the “barbarians” very quickly brought them down to the sinful earth, from the sky-high heights of self-esteem. Although before this, the country of the “rising”, for a whole decade, brought animal horror, with its “civilization,” to the countries of the Asia-Pacific region.

And we must give them their due, at present, being under occupation, they manage not to lag far behind technologically in a number of critical industries. It is not difficult to guess that a country capable of building and operating nuclear power plants will, without a doubt, cope (sooner or later) with the creation of nuclear weapons. The accident in Fukushima revealed this outwardly invisible detail.

In turn, the Japanese space program pursues another fundamental goal - the creation of (different) and under nuclear weapons including. It’s just that all this is disguised as peaceful and even in some places commercial (sometimes downright clown) study and exploration of space.

Moreover, North Korea(DPRK) - this is impossible in principle, although it did not destroy tens of millions of people, but for Japan - this is possible. Taking into account historical knowledge, there is no doubt that they, unlike the Koreans, would have already used WMD (weapons of mass destruction). There is experience, and colossal one, albeit chemical and bacteriological, but this is also very unpleasant.

The Japanese did not forget or forgive the shame and humiliation of their defeat - they hid. Japan resembles a cunning fox, which slowly, literally in parts (paw, tail, nose), enters the hare’s house to warm up. You know what happened next. And the “fox” also understands the end result. But the ambitions and instincts of a predator again push her (in the end), under the heavy paw of a bear, who will definitely stand up for the hare.

In the meantime, on February 3, 2018, a Japanese rocket successfully launched the TRICOM-1R microsatellite, weighing 3 kg. The rocket itself weighs about 2.6 tons, while its diameter is 52 cm and length is 9.54 m. The public gushes with delight.

The previous attempt, in January 2017, ended in failure, but certain conclusions were drawn. And everything is presented in the media in such a way as to create the impression that this is all not serious, but make-believe. The Japanese have become very adept at throwing dust over the past years. With feigned naivety, they report that the rocket uses rechargeable batteries, intended, among other things, for ordinary household purposes.

And the small size of the rocket is for efficiency (costs amount to 3.6 million dollars). Although here they are disingenuous. Putting a cargo weighing 3 kg into orbit for 3.6 million dollars is anything but saving. Just ask how much it costs to deliver 1 kg of cargo into orbit in other countries. Amazing discoveries await you.

For obvious reasons, the “samurai” cannot openly declare the end of the occupation. They also cannot announce the creation of short- and medium-range missiles and place them on wheeled launchers. They do not have the main component - nuclear warhead. Fukushima “broke everything.”

And conventional ammunition will not help Japan, but will only harm it. The carefully built image of a peace-loving nation will slip away like a broken mask. That's why they continue to transport missiles on regular trucks.

The launch of the N-IIB launch vehicle with the Kounotori 7 cargo spacecraft has already been postponed twice. Why is this ship so welcome on the ISS and what is the reason for the launch postponements?

It seems that only specialists know about Japan's space program. The program exists, the rockets are launched regularly, but there is no PR, as happens with Elon Musk and his company Space X. Meanwhile, Japan is one of three countries in the world that delivers cargo ships for life support to the International Space Station. Everyone is hearing about the Russian cargo "Progress", the American Dragon with the possibility of return, and again only those who are interested know about the Japanese Kounotori (from Japanese "white stork").

Japanese "truck"

And now the seventh mission with cargo for the astronauts in orbit will fly into orbit. The mission is called Kounotori 7 and will launch from the Japanese Tanegashima spaceport. The cargo of the spacecraft will be as much as four and a half tons of payload. These include new lithium-ion batteries ordered by NASA to replace aging nickel-hydrogen batteries. This is part of the batteries, the rest will arrive to the ISS with the next launches. It is expected that astronauts will install the panels during the next spacewalk in October.

In fact, timely replacement of batteries is very serious problem. In addition to the panels losing their ability to generate electricity from sunlight over time, micrometeorites that damage the panels pose a separate problem. After several years of operation, batteries can lose up to a quarter of the electricity generated. Therefore, they have to be replaced regularly.

Moreover, the main generation of electricity lies in the American segment. The Russian sector also has batteries, but not enough of them; we use the energy generated by batteries located between the Unity and Destiny modules. The management of Roscosmos has long wanted to fix the problem with electricity, for which it is planned to launch a Russian NEM module in 2022, the main task of which will be generating electricity.

What's the problem?

This is the second time the launch of the N-IIB heavy launch vehicle has been postponed. The first time the reason for the transfer was bad weather, or rather passing in Pacific Ocean typhoon. Moreover, there was no strong typhoon in Japan itself, but it raged near the island of Guam, where telemetry from the rocket is collected during launch, so from September 10 the launch was postponed to September 14.

On September 14, a more serious problem emerged. After filling the fuel and oxidizer tanks, the system signaled a problem with the second stage fuel pump valve. This problem could not be resolved promptly, so the launch was postponed by a week and will take place on Saturday, September 22. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the company responsible for launching the rocket, said the problem has been resolved and the launch should take place on time.

It is clear why Japanese specialists are blowing away. The thing is that in June 2018, the launch of the private Japanese Momo rocket ended in failure. Launched on June 30, 2018, the rocket took off from the ground and covered several tens of meters, but suddenly collapsed and exploded, causing a strong fire. Formally, private Japanese astronautics is in no way connected with the state program, but for the Japanese it is very important to preserve the face of the space industry.

Flight process

At the same time, the heavy launch vehicle N-IIB has no problems with launches. It has been launched six times since 2009, and all six launches were successful. This is a more than worthy result. It is worth noting that the Japanese seriously play it safe when launching, for example, unlike Russian specialists. The Japanese ship will reach the station only after five days of flight (just compare this with the Russian Progress, which reached the station in three hours and forty minutes). It’s easier this way, there’s less need to be tied to the launch window, more time for maneuvers, and less cost of error when changing the orbit.

Japanese cargo ships, like the American Dragon, do not dock at the ISS. They slow down and fly up to the station as close as possible, and there they are caught with the help of a ten-meter Canadarm 2 manipulator. They are dragged to the airlock by the manipulator, after which they begin to load the payload on board the station.

Now we can only hope that the launch of the Japanese cargo ship will be successful and the astronauts on the International Space Station will receive cargo as early as the middle of next week. Supplying the ISS is a responsible matter, and astronauts look forward to every launch.

Readers are offered the first material in a fascinating series of introductory articles about the Japanese space program.

With this article, dear readers of our site, we open a series of materials about the Japanese space program. "About what?!" – you probably ask. And you will be absolutely right - not much is known about the Japanese space exploration program, or rather, not a very wide circle of people.

Of course, any schoolchild (at least for now) knows who Yuri Gagarin is and why he is famous. Some will even remember exactly when and on what ship his flight took place. Americans still sacredly remember the name of their first astronaut (even those of them who do not know who Gagarin is) - Alan Shepard, despite the fact that his flight, strictly speaking, was ubbital. And of course, in the USA everyone honors the legendary commander of the Apollo 11 crew, the first person to set foot (until proven otherwise) on the surface of the Moon. Finally, the term “taikonaut” has recently become fashionable, along with the name of the first Chinese in orbit, Yang Liwei.

More recently, we even celebrated the 50th anniversary of the orbital flight of the first four-legged astronauts - the dogs Belka and Strelka. Tell me, dear readers, have you heard of at least one Japanese astronaut? For example, I was always surprised by the fact that, despite the fact that almost any person would confidently call Japan one of the leading countries in the field of high technology, hardly one in a hundred has heard anything about the space program of this country. It would seem, who else if not the Japanese with their technologies to conquer space? I can assure you that the Japanese space program has a lot of interesting things - the Land of the Rising Sun has its own launch vehicles, the vehicles of the proud children of Amaterasu flew to the Moon and asteroids, flights to Venus and Mars are planned. The Japanese have created a solar yacht and have their “home” on the ISS. We will tell you about all this. Today we decided to start not with ships and satellites, “rocks, sticks and iron,” but with people, Japan’s envoys in space. So, today we will introduce you to the most remarkable Japanese astronauts... and those who almost became them.

Gagarin of the rising sun

So, Yuri Gagarin, the first cosmonaut of the USSR and the whole world:

Alan Shepard, first American astronaut:

Yang Liwei, the first Chinese taikonaut:

And this is the very first astronaut from Japan and the first Japanese in space, Toyohiro Akiyama (秋山豊寛):

The most amazing thing is that the first Japanese astronaut... was not an astronaut at all! He was born at the height of World War II, in 1942, and could hardly imagine what kind of future awaited him: that the spaceship of the Soviet Union, then the enemy of Japan, which defeated the Kwantung Army in 1945, would not only take him into orbit decades later, and will make him the first Japanese astronaut. The road to space began for Akiyama in 1966 - it was this year that he began working at the TVS (Tokyo Broadcasting System) television and radio corporation. He progressed well in his career, occupying increasingly significant positions, and in 1989 he was selected for the commercial space flight program, for which TVS signed a contract with Soviet Union to celebrate the 40th anniversary of its founding. Thus, Akiyama also became the first professional journalist in space, not only in Japan, but also in the world!

Since October 1989, he trained at the Cosmonaut Training Center. Yu. Gagarin, and on December 2, 1990 he launched into space on the Soyuz TM-11 spacecraft. The crew commander was V.M. Afanasyev, the flight engineer was M.Kh. Manarov, both were Soviet cosmonauts.

The ship docked with the Mir station, and the Japanese spent about 5 days on it. During this time, he conducted live reports from orbit and even conducted scientific experiments... with Japanese tree frogs! In total, his flight lasted 7 days, 21 hours and 54 minutes. Unfortunately, it turned out that journalists are not very suitable for space flight: despite the preparation, during the flight Akiyama had problems with the vestibular apparatus, the so-called. space sickness.

His career after the flight was no less interesting. In 1991, he filmed a report in Kazakhstan about the fate of the Aral Sea. In 1995, he resigned from his corporation in protest against its commercialization. After that, the first Japanese astronaut... organized a mushroom and rice farm in Fukushima Prefecture! Truly, Japan got the most unusual first astronaut in the world.

Tereshkova in Japanese

During the first space flights, it was believed that space was not a woman’s business. Even Valentina Tereshkova’s flight changed little - the fair half of humanity graced outer space en masse much later.

But what about the Japanese, or more precisely, Japanese women? Amaterasu's first daughter in space was Chiaki Mukai (向井千秋):

In comparison with Tereshkova, who was in orbit in 1963, and even the first “space” American Sally Ride (she flew into space in 1983), Chiaki was significantly “late”: she reached space only in 1994. She flew on American shuttles, and twice - the second time in 1998. Her total flight time was a fairly respectable 8 days, 21 hours and 44 minutes. By the way, for the first time she flew into space on the infamous shuttle Columbia, which died on February 1, 2003.

Tourist from Japan

Space tourism is the latest in tourism fashion. Moreover, this pleasure is still very, very expensive - we're talking about about millions of dollars. The Japanese, however, did not lose face here either. Or rather, they almost didn’t hit.

Meet Daisuke Enomoto (榎本大輔):

As you can see, he doesn't look much like an astronaut. Actually, it is so: this cute Japanese is an entrepreneur, the owner of the Internet company Livedoor. He was supposed to become the seventh space tourist in history, and at the same time the first from Asia and Japan.

He was supposed to fly on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft in September 2006. However, in August, due to “medical inconsistencies”, he was removed from the flight. It is noteworthy that Anousheh Ansari, an American of Iranian origin, the first woman in history to be a space tourist, went into space instead.

Extreme

In fact, astronauts are very superstitious people. For example, they never say “last”, only “extreme”. So, the extreme among the Japanese so far is Soichi Noguchi (野口聡一):

He is a completely professional astronaut; he was supposed to go into space for the first time in 2003, but due to the disaster of the Columbia shuttle we have already mentioned, the flight was postponed. As a result, he launched on July 25, 2005, on the Discovery shuttle, this was the first flight of the Space Shuttle system after that tragedy.

During his flights, Noguchi went into outer space more than once and worked on the International Space Station:

Until very recently, he returned only recently - on June 2, 2010. This was a major event in Japan; correspondents from the leading news agency Kyodo Tsushin specially traveled to Kazakhstan and waited all night in the wild steppe for the return of the Soyuz descent module, on which the astronaut was returning, to interview him immediately after the hatches were opened.

With this, dear visitors of our site, we say goodbye to you. Stay tuned for our next articles about Japan's space program!

P.S. Read the next articles in this series.

Japan is eager to enter the market. To space
Conquering 25% of the global market for global Earth monitoring satellites, creating our own reusable spacecraft, building an astronomical observatory on the Moon and a network of robotic platform stations in low and medium Earth orbits are just some of the goals of Japan's long-term national space program. The explosion that occurred on May 11 at the space center of the Institute of Space and Aeronautics (ISA) of the Japanese Ministry of Education may make adjustments to the implementation of a number of specific space projects, but, according to experts, it is unlikely to affect the pace of the entire program. This means that by 2010 Japan will become a real competitor to Russia, the USA and France, not only in the market for commercial satellite launches.

Japan began practical space exploration in February last year, having successfully launched its first heavy rocket, the H-2, the creation of which cost $2.5 billion. But already at the end of this year, the National Research Agency outer space(NASDA) and IKA intend to test two of the latest solid propellant carriers, Jay-1 and Mu-5. Only the Mu-5 carrier has a clearly defined place in the national space program; there is not a word about Jay-1, a NASDA development. At the same time, the Jay-1 could well be used as a basic ballistic carrier capable of carrying a warhead for military purposes: the rocket can throw cargo weighing up to 1 ton into low orbits. True, it is possible to create a full-fledged ballistic missile only with an appropriate level of knowledge in the field of orientation and guidance systems. Their shortage was not the last reason that, at the dawn of the nuclear missile confrontation, the USSR and the USA never dared to use these weapons - there were no guarantees that the missiles would fall even a few kilometers from the target. The rapid accumulation of guidance expertise raises further concerns about the officially defunct military aspect of Japan's space program. As reported by ITAR-TASS, experiments to return space objects to Earth, conducted by Tokyo as part of the program to create the reusable Hope spacecraft, are successful - this means that the system for pointing objects to a given area is being improved, and the likelihood of ballistic missiles appearing in Tokyo is growing.
But it is not only the rocket-building aspect of Japan's space program that can be used for both peaceful and military purposes. Just recently, a decision was made to allocate $7 million this year for the development of a Japanese observation satellite. It is supposed to be equipped with equipment with a resolution of up to 2.5 meters. At the same time, on civilian satellites this figure is 10 meters - on the French Spot and 30 meters on the American Landsat. The launch of such equipment into space on supposedly civilian satellites (according to current legislation, the military use of space by the National Defense Agency of Japan is prohibited) will make it possible to clearly determine the models of aircraft, missiles, ships and even armored vehicles both day and night, and in completely cloudy conditions. The number of Japanese orbital constellations (its formation will begin in 1999-2000) will be 30 units by 2010, and costs will exceed $800 million. According to official Tokyo, the satellite system will be intended exclusively for monitoring natural phenomena and warnings natural disasters. Japan's Asian neighbors will also be able to use it - to solve their economic or environmental problems. Naturally, not for free. By the way, the explosion at the IKA center occurred during preparations for testing a new engine for the H-2 rocket. With its help, it is planned to improve this carrier in order to increase its carrying capacity when launching payloads, including ALOS satellites, into low orbits.
Japan's space ambitions primarily affect its closest neighbors in the region, which are actively developing their own space programs - China and India. They may simply not have time (and everything is moving towards this) to enter the regional market not only for commercial satellite launches, but also the market for information obtained with their help. The pace of implementation of the Japanese shuttle program allows Tokyo to hope to displace Russia and the United States in the manned flight market in just 15 years. It’s hard to imagine yet, but Japan intends to independently build, deliver into orbit and attach its national module “JEM” to the international space station Alpha. At the same time, according to ITAR-TASS, it is planned to use our own “shuttle” “Hope”, which will be launched into orbit by the same carrier “H-2”. In general, so far Japan, despite all the difficulties, is confidently approaching its cherished goal - complete space independence.

ALEXANDER KORETSKY

From the countries of Asia and Africa to the title " space power"The closest place is Japan. As early as January 1955, the National Science Council of Japan decided to participate in research into the upper atmosphere during the International Geophysical Year (1957-1958).

A special committee on geophysical rockets was created. In 1955, rockets were launched - the first Japanese rocket "Pencil", followed by "Baby", with the help of which telemetry systems, tracking systems and means of searching for rockets that fell into the ocean were tested. In 1956-1957, Kappa rockets were launched. Under the program of the International Year of the Quiet Sun (1964-1965), phenomena in the ionosphere, the nature of the propagation of radio waves, magnetic fields, cosmic rays, solar and galactic X-rays.

The prospects for the development of space research in Japan were outlined in a report by the National Space Research Council that appeared in 1964. This document outlines six main tasks in the field of space research: the development of artificial satellites, the design of meteorological rockets, the improvement of launch vehicles, the development of means and methods for using satellites launched by other countries; scientific research using geophysical rockets and creating a variety of measuring equipment.

But, undoubtedly, the most important event in the development of Japanese rocket technology will be the launch of Sputnik, which will mark the beginning of astronautics in Japan. On September 26, 1966, a four-stage Lambda-4 rocket launched from the Uchinoura test site, the last stage of which was to become an Earth satellite. Due to incorrect operation of the attitude control system, the last stage with the instrument compartment did not enter orbit. The experiment, which cost $250 thousand, ended in failure. But failures will not weaken Japan’s position in the struggle for the title of “space power.”

Japan's national space program is managed by the Prime Minister's National Space Research Council. The ministries of science and technology, defense, education, post and communications, transport, and foreign trade participate in space research.

The Institute of Aerospace Sciences has been operating at the University of Tokyo since April 1964. It has three departments: science, technology and aeronautics. The institute has at its disposal a launch complex in Kagoshima (in the south of the country) and a testing center in Michikawa (in the north of Honshu Island). Work on the creation of the Kappa, Lambda and Mu rockets is being carried out by a group of specialists from the institute under the leadership of Professor H. Yotokawa. These rockets, created and tested by Japanese engineers, are capable of delivering payloads to various altitudes and orbit around the Earth in various combinations.

Despite the obvious desire for independent space research, the leaders of the Japanese space program could not refuse joint experiments with American scientists. Back in 1962, rockets were launched from the American test site Wallops Island to study the ionosphere. Instruments developed by American and Japanese scientists were installed on board the rockets. This is how the collaboration with NASA began. Joint experiments continue. An informal agreement has been reached between the Japan Science and Technology Administration and NASA to sell American control systems for launch vehicles to Japan, Aerospace Daily reported. Previously, a number of American firms agreed to sell their control systems to Japan, but the US Department of Defense did not sanction this.

American control systems will apparently be installed on improved models of the Japanese Mu-4 launch vehicle, with the help of which attempts will continue to place the first Japanese artificial satellite Earth.

Japan enters into various forms of cooperation with the United States not as a “weak side,” but with the expectation of competition in the future. Japanese industrial firms and corporations profit from the production of various types of weapons, including missiles. In many cases they are already successfully competing with the US. At first, Japanese industry produced some samples of American missiles under license. Currently, the production of a number of models of domestic missile weapons has already been organized.

Following the emerging trend, Japanese aviation industrial companies began to develop and produce space technology. Moreover, when creating various types of space technology, the possibilities of its use for military purposes are not lost sight of. Thus, the Mitsubishi company has been working on the creation of anti-aircraft missiles and air-to-air missiles since 1955. Now the company continues to work in the field of rocket weapons and at the same time is designing the first Japanese satellite and several samples of high-altitude rockets commissioned by the Science and Technology Administration of Japan.

The Prince automobile company plays a leading role in the production of military and research rockets. Its products include solid fuel engines, which are used in various types guided and unguided missile weapons. According to Jane's Yearbook, starting in 1957, Prince began producing Pencil, Baby, Omega, Kappa, and Sigma rockets for the Institute of Aerospace Sciences at the University of Tokyo. The company is now entrusted with the production of Lambda and Mu rockets, with the help of various combinations of which it is planned to launch the first Japanese satellites.

The head of the Associated Press agency in Japan, D. Randolph, in his article “Japan as a Nuclear Power” writes with alarm that in terms of its characteristics, the Japanese Mu missile is not inferior to the American military missile Minuteman. Randolph concludes that Japan may soon become a very formidable nuclear power.