Introduction to the Nozomi Mission

Due to a strong solar flare, a critical component was shorted out inside the craft. In December 2003, Nozomi was rerouted into a large solar orbit as it was no longer possible to achieve orbit around Mars.

The Nozomi Mission was launched on July 4, 1998 to the planet Mars aboard the Japanese Planet-B spacecraft, under direction of the Japanese Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS). Launch of the Planet-B spacecraft took place from Kagoshima Space Center on an M-V vehicle on Saturday, July 4 at 3:12 AM local time (Friday at 2:12 PM EDT). Planet-B was renamed Nozomi, or "hope," after liftoff. Flight operations were handled by Sagamihara Spacecraft Operations Center, and Martian orbit insertion would have taken place in January 2004.

Nozomi Launch Vehicle (Photo courtesy of KSC/ISAS)

The mission objective is to study the structure and dynamics of the atmosphere and ionosphere of Mars. The results obtained will be compared with those obtained from the Pioneer Venus Orbiter mission to better understand the direct interactions between the planetary atmosphere and ionosphere and the solar wind.

Illustration of Nozomi arriving at Mars (Image courtesy of ISAS.)