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Elizabeth Tasker 🎃 Profile picture
@girlandkat
Nov 17, 2022 • 27 tweets • 11 min read • Read on X
Professor Hashimoto Tatsuaki who leads the OMOTENASHI team reports here with sad news about the CubeSat Moon lander. After separation from the SLS, the radio signal from the CubeSat was unstable and it was difficult to get telemetry from NASA’s Deep Space Network Madrid station.
When OMOTENASHI finally locked with the ground station, the solar cells were found to be facing away from the Sun but the CubeSat was rotating fast. Rather than using the attitude control to redirect the solar cells, the team therefore released a gas jet to stop the spin.
But as the battery voltage dropped, the team switched from stopping spin to using the gas jet to change the spin axis to point the solar cells towards the Sun. But as Madrid went out of range, the transmitter turned off due to lack of voltage. Communication has not been restored.
OMOTENASHI was developed over a period of six years. No equipment is currently thought to be malfunctioning, so the team are determined to keep trying to recover the attitude of the CubeSat and complete the mission.
SPACE IS HARD Y’ALL 😰 I really appreciate the mission leader of OMOTENASHI reaching out to inform everyone of the status during these difficulties.

OMOTENASHI is an incredibly cool mission to become the smallest lunar lander. I wish the team the absolute best of luck.
The NASA Deep Space Network (eyes.nasa.gov/dsn/dsn.html ) is showing an up signal to OMOTENASHI from one of the Goldstone antennas. I think this must be the team trying to communicate with the little moon lander. It’s a bit like watching heart compressions 💔😰 COME ON, OMOTENASHI!!
The OMOTENASHI team were continuing recovery operations today (November 18).
If the rotation state of OMOTENASHI changes so that the solar cells can be illuminated, the CubeSat will wake up. With power restored, OMOTENASHI will automatically begin transmitting radio waves. The team will continue to check for this every day.
If radio waves are transmitted, the team will try adjusting attitude to receive more sunlight. Driving the reaction wheels manually to alter attitude is also being considered. While there is a possibility of landing on the Moon, we will do our very best.
The team will share further information in the morning of November 21st JST. Hopefully, we will have good news to share, but any case, we will be doing the very best we can at all times.
I did briefly see a down signal on the NASA Deep Space Network for OMOTENASHI (!), but it's not carrying any data (0.00 b/sec). @Aero_actor explained this means that the signal is weak or unstable. But... a carrier signal might mean the battery recharged... IT'S HOPE, DAMN IT!
HOLD ON, OMOTENASHI!
An update on Monday November 21 from the OMOTENASHI Team. Unfortunately, the news remains poor. The team thank everyone for their support, but say they are currently still not receiving a radio signal from the CubeSat.
The CubeSat's trajectory is expected to be almost the same since separation from the rocket. However, in case the orbit has shifted and caused a problem with transmission, the team conducted a search by moving the antenna direction.
The team have also switched with @EQUULEUS_en to use Japan's 34m Uchinoura ground station antenna, rather than the 64m Usuda antenna, as the 34m has a wider beam width.
(CUBESATS 4EVA! EQUULEUS is the second Japanese CubeSat that was launched onboard #ArtemisI. It is heading to L2 and seems to be doing well. The teams are clearly doing their best to support one another.)
The originally planned landing is no longer feasible. But if recovery is possible by the end of the day, the solid rocket can decelerate OMOTENASHI while passing the perilune (closest point to the Moon) & free-fall to the surface. Perilune is at 24:00 JST
Therefore, the team have prepared a command file for the procedures to quickly establish 3-axis attitude control, prepare for landing, and transmit the landing sequence, once radio communications are established.
(Thanks @Aero_actor for help translating!)
Yesterday the team conducted an operation rehearsal using a spacecraft simulators to check for any problems with this procedure. The NASA Deep Space Network has also secured an operational path for this time.
The team has until midnight tonight (JST) for their last chance at a Moon landing with OMOTENASHI. They are preparing for a long battle, but until time runs out, every possible preparation will be made for a lunar landing.
12 hours to go.
I'm loving this hashtag #OMOTENASHI_WIN from LUPEX, an up-coming fellow lunar-explorer mission that is jointly led by JAXA-ISRO to explore the lunar poles 😊

WIN, OMOTENASHI, #OMOTENASHI_WIN!
TALK, YOU COWARD! 😭
The OMOTENASHI team report that they were sadly unable to receive a signal from OMOTENASHI and the lunar landing experiment could not be attempted.
The cause of the problem will be investigated, and future operation plans will be discussed with everyone involved.
The team were encouraged by all the support they received, and are sorry it was not possible to live up to expectations. But there is now the opportunity to travel beyond the Moon, so recovery will still be attempted to realise part of the mission.
I am so sorry for the #OMOTENASHI team, who due to a (probably) tiny issue, missed the Moon landing. Space is really hard. But an attitude that says, "OK, we missed the Moon, but we now have... a DEEP SPACE PROBE!" makes space exploration amazing. #OMOTENASHI_WIN

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More from @girlandkat

Elizabeth Tasker 🎃 Profile picture
Jul 15, 2022
We are still here, with enough veterinary medicine to open a small practice in my bedroom!

#CassieCat had dangerously high levels of ammonia in her blood, that might be due to dehydration from poor circulation caused by her cancer 😕 Image
There’s this humungous construction in my living room and all I can do is flop beside it. #CassieCat (futon pulled into main room to keep an eye on her after such a tough day!) Image
A better start to Saturday than Friday! #CassieCat #NorahNeko ImageImage
Read 17 tweets
Elizabeth Tasker 🎃 Profile picture
Jan 30, 2022
Netflix n’ Purr time. #CassieCat Image
#CassieCat has two tactics at the vet. The first is to look absolutely symmetrical under her towel, so you cannot tell which is head or tail. The second (demonstrated here) is to make the carrier look completely empty 🤔 Image
After 10 weeks of treatment, we now go to the vet every fortnight! We’ll all enjoy this immensely😸

It’s hard to know how #CassieCat is doing overall. Cancer treatment is based on statistical success rates with no way to monitor individual progress. We won’t know until we fail😕
Read 54 tweets
Elizabeth Tasker 🎃 Profile picture
Jan 13, 2020
OK, everyone.

It’s time.

For some hot-off-the-press research results.

It’s animated and you’re going to love it.
We know of over 4000 exoplanets, but for the majority of these worlds, we do not even know both their mass and radius, leaving us in the dark about their nature. Be these gas 💨, watery 🌊 or rocky worlds with the potential for a decent latte 👽☕️? [1/5]
Despite mass and radius being key to the nature of a planet, they are often impossible to measure, even with a telescope bigger than the one you planned to build when you were 5 🔭. So must we give up on knowing about thousands of worlds? [2/5]
Read 6 tweets
Elizabeth Tasker 🎃 Profile picture
Oct 31, 2019
We’ve wanted to go back to Europa since the Galileo mission visited the icy moon in the 1990s and spotted a subsurface ocean. Could Europa harbour life?

But plans for a new mission are only now coming to fruition. This is because Europa is a dangerous destination for a spaceship
Embedded in Jupiter’s magnetic field, the radiation levels at Europa would fry an orbiting spacecraft within 1 - 2 months, explains Stefano Campagnola (NASA JPL & former ISAS/JAXA). That’s plenty of time to collect kickass data, but not long enough to transmit it back to Earth.
NASA @EuropaClipper will flyby Europa then pull out of the high radiation zone and orbit Jupiter for 2 weeks, transferring data to Earth, before swinging past the icy moon again.

This extends the mission lifetime to 4 years, rather than the 1 month possible in an Europa orbit.
Read 7 tweets
Elizabeth Tasker 🎃 Profile picture
Oct 18, 2019
We’ve discovered many planets in the habitable zone, but the majority (if not all) will be completely unfit for life. This is because those worlds may be dressed completely inappropriately for the conditions.

(Doodly in thread form: Part 1/3)
The habitable zone can be thought of as the spot to hang out if you're wearing the right atmospheric coat. If you've donned a different atmosphere, the temperature isn't going to be pleasant.

(Doodly thread: Part 2/3)
So if the habitable zone requires a very particular Earth-like atmospheric coat to be comfortable, but we don't know what atmospheres most exoplanets are wearing, why is the term useful and could we do better?

(Doodly thread: Part 3/3)
Read 4 tweets

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