HEAPOW: The Loss of Hitomi (2016 May 02)
At 3:01 a.m. Japan time on March 26, 2016, the astronomical community suffered the tragic loss of the Hitomi X-ray Observatory. Hitomi, launched just five weeks earlier on February 17, was near the end of its on-orbit checkout and verification phase, and maneuvering from the Crab Nebula to an active galaxy, Markarian 205, when, through a series of problems, it could no longer determine its accurate orientation in space. Efforts to correct these problems actually made them worse, eventually spinning the satellite beyond its limits. This fast rotation caused a partial breakup of the satellite, and the loss of the extendable optical bench and the Hard X-ray Imager instrument, along with the spacecraft's solar panels. There was hope that commands from ground could counteract the rotation and lead to a partial recovery of the mission, but the loss of the solar panels, needed to provide spacecraft power, made this impossible. On 28 April, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) declared the satellite lost.
SciAm: Software Error Doomed Japanese Hitomi Spacecraft
http://asterisk.apod.com/viewtopic.php?t=35569
http://asterisk.apod.com/viewtopic.php?t=35666
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