Event
Event to Commemorate the Completion of the GREAT2 Project to be Held
The development of the redundant system for the Misasa Deep Space Station has been completed, and full-scale operations will begin in April. To commemorate this, a special exhibition will be held at the Tsukuba Expo Center on March 16 (Sat.) and 17 (Sun.). Starting with a mini lecture by a staff member involved in the development, there will be an exhibition of scale models of the HAYABUSA2, MMX, and MDSS, VR experiences, Dr. Antenna's laboratory, and much more. Please come and visit us!
GREAT2 project team leader appeared as a guest on TBS Radio's "CONNECT".
Two hours after the program begins, the talk will begin as "Antenn Studies".
Published in JAXA's 094!
A conversation between the GREAT2 project team leader and Renge Ishiyama, an electric wire enthusiast, writer, and actor, was featured on JAXA's094. Click the link below to go to JAXA's article page.
Published in JAXA's 093!
An article on integration testing at Misasa Station was published in JAXA's Issue 093.
Special opening event
Thank you very much for coming to the special opening event on August 19th.
In addition, although we received a large number of applications,
we were forced to draw a lottery as we greatly exceeded the number of applications that we could accept.
The actual number of participants was 276 groups (674 people),
though the number of applicants was 590 groups (1479 people) and the number of winners was 328 groups (871 people).
The weather on the day was predicted to rain in the afternoon and thunderstorms at one point,
but we were fortunate to have good weather until the end of the event.
This year, we allocated our staff to handle tours inside the antenna,
so we received comments on the panel explanations and event announcements,
which will be reflected in the next event if possible.
Lastly, I would like to express my gratitude to everyone who participated,
and to everyone involved in "Saku City",
"Saku City Promotion Public Corporation (including Saku Children's science dome for the future)"
and "Nagano Prefecture is a space prefecture" for their support and cooperation.
We would like to thank the staff for their assistance.
GREAT2 manga published on "Sora no Tobira(Portal to Space)"
On the website of the Space Education Center, there is a corner called "Soratobi", and in that corner there is a manga corner called "Sora☆Tomo".
The GREAT2 version has been published.
The original article can be downloaded from the following link (other website).
Sora no Tobira 063 2023 Spring (only Japanese)
An article about the parabolic antennas managed by JAXA has been published on "Hobonichi".
"Hobonichi" published an article on the parabolic antennas managed by JAXA.
Click here for the website (only Japanese)
An article on emergency power supply equipment was published in JAXA's 90
JAXA's 90 published an article on the emergency power supply system installed at the Misasa Station.
An article about the Special opening was published in ISAS NEWS.
An Article about the Special opening was published in ISAS NEWS, which is regularly published by the JAXA Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS).
The following is an excerpt from the article. English below.
Misasa Deep Space Station, First Open to the PublicOn October 1, 2022, the first special opening event was held at the Misasa Deep Space Station. About 600 people from all over the country, including Nagano Prefecture, participated in the event, out of a total of nearly 2,600 applicants, with a lottery system in advance due to measures against COVID-19 and accommodation space. Blessed with fine weather on the day of the event, the participants were amazed at the size of the 54m diameter antenna, and the children watched with their mouths open as the large antenna moved at high speed. Many adults also commented that they were "impressed by the speed" and "I was happy to be able to see the antenna from various angles."
Professor Yuichi Tsuda, former Hayabusa2 project manager, was invited as a surprise guest, and many visitors listened intently to the lecture. It was very well received, with comments such as "Space has become a familiar field" and "I was so excited because I never dreamed I would meet Professor Tsuda."
The guided tour by JAXA staff, which was held for a limited number of people, was very popular. One of the participants commented, "The explanation was polite and easy to understand." On the other hand, there were many people who could not participate in the tour, and many said that they wanted to see the inside of the antenna as well. So, after the event, we released the Antenna Virtual Tour video on YouTube, and it quickly surpassed 16,000 views. In the future, we plan to release the antenna equipment room (transmitter, receiver), so we would be happy if you could look forward to it.
This was the first special opening event for Misasa station, and we would like to thank you for your kind words and helpful opinions for the next event. We would like to thank everyone who participated, and we would like to thank everyone involved in supporting and cooperating with "Saku City", "Saku City Promotion Public Corporation (including Saku Children's science dome for the future)" and "Nagano Prefecture is a space prefecture". Thank you very much to all the staff.
The Misasa Deep Space Station will be completely out of operation from September 20, 2022 to the end of January 2023, and a redundant system is being developed to improve reliability and operability. The NAS battery and wind power generation equipment as emergency power supply equipment were almost completed in October, and other on-site construction started in November. We have also started work on the K-band receiving system for the NASA Roman Space Telescope, which is scheduled to be launched in the mid-2020s. Please continue to pay attention to the Misasa Deep Space Station.
Special opening event report
Thank you very much for coming to the special opening event on October 1st. In addition, although we received a large number of applications, we were forced to draw a lottery as we greatly exceeded the number of applications that we could accept.
It was blessed with fine weather on the day of the special opening.
About 600 people from all over the country visited the station, and enjoyed seeing the antennas up close, experiencing booths where they could learn how parabolas work, selling local products, and distributing antenna cards.
JAXA staff took pictures of the inside of the antenna with a 360-degree camera and posted a virtual tour of the antenna on You Tube, so please check it out.
Lastly, I would like to express my gratitude to everyone who participated, and to everyone involved in "Saku City", "Saku City Promotion Public Corporation (including Saku Children's science dome for the future)" and "Nagano Prefecture is a space prefecture" for their support and cooperation. We would like to thank the staff for their assistance.
Misasa station is introduced in "Workers in Japan"
The Misasa deep station was interviewed by Mr. Jo Nishizawa, a professional photographer who has been coming to take pictures of the Misasa deep station since its initial construction. In addition, the Misasa deep station was introduced on his website, "Workers in Japan" (a website for disseminating information on people and jobs).
Click here for the website (only Japanese)
Tateshina Skyline's winter road closure lifted (to the MDSS)
The winter road closure (to the MDSS) of the Tateshina Skyline was lifted at 15:00 on April 26, 2022. Please note that the Okawara Pass area above the MDSS will continue to be closed. The MDSS is constructing storage battery equipment. Please note that construction vehicles may run.
An article related to the Misasa station was published in ISAS NEWS.
An Article related to the Misasa station was published in ISAS NEWS, which is regularly published by the JAXA Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS).
The K-band reception system for the Roman Space Telescope will be in place by the end of FY2023, and will be tested with NASA thereafter.
The following is an excerpt from the article. English below.
Nancy Grace Roman Space TelescopeThe Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (Roman Telescope), which NASA plans to launch in 2026, is a space telescope project that challenges the accelerating expansion of the universe and the study of extrasolar planets from a human perspective.ISAS and Japanese research teams are participating in the Roman Telescope Project with the following issues:
(1) Providing the polarization function of the coronagraph device and the optical element called the mask substrate
(2) Data reception cooperation by JAXA ground station
(3) Realization of coordinated observation with Roman using the Subaru Telescope (National Institutes of Natural Sciences, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan) and the PRIME Telescope (Osaka University)
The coronagraph device will challenge the demonstration of direct observation of exoplanets with a high contrast of one billionth. Regarding polarization observation, Japan proposes the idea of a highly accurate polarization function, and actually manufactures and provides a polarization optical element. It makes it easier to detect planets by using the difference in polarization between stars and planets, and makes it possible to observe the structure of debris disks and protoplanetary disks in more detail. In October 2021, we manufactured a polarized optical element for actual flight and sent it to NASA. It is currently being incorporated as part of a coronagraph device and being used for various tests.
The cooperation of the ground station is not just a matter of accommodating the communication time, but also the cooperation necessary to make the best use of the scientific data of the Roman telescope and improve the observation accuracy. The data transmission required by the Roman telescope is from 150 Mbps to a maximum of 500 Mbps, which is far larger than the conventional scientific satellites activated by the Sun-Earth L2, and therefore the "K band" (frequency around 26 GHz) is used. Misasa Deep Space Station (MDSS), which was constructed by JAXA and started operation in 2021, can receive the Ka32GHz band used in deep space exploration using a 54m antenna, but the antenna has sufficient performance for the K band. However, there was no data reception function. Therefore, in cooperation with the JAXA Space Tracking and Communications Center, we will establish a K-band reception system at the Misasa station, which will receive Roman data. In April 2022, the system requirements and definition of the Misasa station K-band reception system will be reviewed, and the entire ISAS Roman project (within the department) will be reviewed thereafter.
The antenna card of the Misasa station (only Japanese)
The antenna card of the Misasa station has been issued. This card is given to those who come to the facility tour. (We do not send it by mail.)
The Misasa station does not accept tours, but we would like to consider distributing it at the Usuda Deep Space Center or when holding the special exhibition. (Therefore, distribution has not started yet.)
Now, the Misasa station cannot be visited because the Tateshina Skyline is closed in winter, and the Usuda Deep Space Center has been closed to the public in winter.
MDSS's antenna card (Front)
MDSS's antenna card (Back)
Emergency support for NASA's Jupiter probe (JUNO).
On October 16, 2021, the reception operation for NASA's JUNO spacecraft was carried out at MDSS, which is the mainstay of JAXA's deep space ground station.
On the day of the event, the JUNO spacecraft was conducting an Europa flyby on Jupiter, and MDSS acquired Doppler data by receiving the radio frequency from JUNO and provided it to NASA.
NASA thanked JAXA for the very useful science data we were able to obtain with the support of the MDSS.
In the future, MDSS will continue to support JUNO, maintain a cooperative relationship with NASA, and plan to support the ROMAN Space Telescope, which is scheduled to be launched after 2025.
Image of JUNO spacecraft (Source: NASA website)
SCAT Award (Excellence Award)
The achievements that created MDSS from 2015 to 2021 (GREAT project, the predecessor of GREAT2) received the 2021 Excellence Award from the Support Center for Advanced Telecommunications Technology Research (SCAT). The development and operation of ground systems are often not well received, but this award was a great pleasure for the ground systems that support the spacecraft mission.
JAXA Official calendar
A photo of the MDSS54 was adopted for the 2022 JAXA official calendar.
Published in JAXA's 85
An overview of the GREAT2 project launched on June 1, 2021 was published in the JAXA's 85 issue.
Completion of GREAT2 project team logo mark
The logo mark of the GREAT2 project team has been completed. The basic design is the same as that of GREAT, but we have adopted "yellow" so that the project members can work cheerfully and brightly.
GREAT2 project team launched
The GREAT2 project team has been set up within the Space Tracking and Communications Center. Then purpose of it is as follows.
- Improvement of the reliability and stability of the MDSS station (redundant system, spare parts, emergency power generation equipment)
- Add functions to support future spacecrafts (EQUULEUS, MMX, DESTINY+ and so on).
Misasa Deep Space Station Opening Ceremony
Misasa Deep Space Station (MDSS) was started to prepare in 2015. After 5 years, the station was completed, and opening ceremony was held in April 10, 2021.
MDSS has been operated since April 1 by Space Tracking and Communications Center transferred. As of April 1, the operation targets are "HAYABUSA2" and MPO (Mercury Planetary Orbiter) of ESA. In addition, it tentatively operates Jupiter probe "JUNO" of NASA.
The opening ceremony was a short form with the minimum number of people required because of COVID-19.
Director Kuninaka (Director, Institute of Space and Astronautical Science) and Director Murata (Director, Usuda Deep Space Center) from JAXA, and Project-Manager Numata and Sub-Manager Uchimura from GREAT project participated and invited Mayor Yanagida (Mayor of Saku) and Saku City officials.
GREAT exhibition is held in Tsukuba Space Center
If you are interested, please come, and visit us.
Special exhibition was held in Sagamihara Campus of Institute of Space and Astronautical Science
We distributed GREAT original commemorative goods to the correct answerers of the quizzes. Thank you for visiting us and for your words of encouragement.
The quizzes and answers given are as follows. The answer was hidden in the panel on display.
- Misasa Deep Space Station is being constructed in __A__ city, Nagano prefecture.
- The number of the people who have engaged construction of the ground station is __B__. The number of American NASA/JPL members who visited MDSS is __C__.
- Main reflector of antenna subsystem is made of __D__(number) __E__(material) panels.
- A Ka-band Low Noise Amplifier's expert is Professor __F__.
- The transistor that is central part of X-band Low Noise Amplifier is cooled to 4K. Here, absolute temperature 0K(Kelvin) is __G__ degrees Celsius.
The leaflet distributed on the day can be downloaded from the following.
NASA/JPL's members came to Misasa station
NASA/JPL's members came to Japan and visited the Misasa station on 12 September.Hayabusa2 and many other JAXA spacecrafts are fully supported by NASA's DSN station. The Misasa station will be contribute to support NASA's spacecraft in the near future. At the antenna site, we had many technical conversations deeply and deepened mutual understanding.
Special exhibition will be held in Sagamihara Campus of Institute of Space and Astronautical Science
GREAT's members who are busily preparing for Hayabusa2's X-band reception test will exhibit. Looking forward to!
Special exhibition was held in Sagamihara Campus of Institute of Space and Astronautical Science
GREAT project exhibited panels this year too. Unfortunately, the event in July 28 was canceled due to the influence of typhoon No.12 and held only in July 27. However, 6139 people came there. GREAT2 screened the time-lapse video in construction site posted on the web, showed the panels of the way of construction of the antenna, and gave a quiz. Thank you for coming.
the Name of the Ground Station
The ground station under construction now is named "Misasa Deep Space Station" as one of the stations of Usuda Deep Space Center. In addition, we call the project that prepared "Misasa Deep Space Station" GRound station for deep space Exploration And Telecommunication (GREAT) project.
Won Special exhibit director award 2017 in Special exhibition
GREAT project won Special exhibit director award 2017 at Sagamihara Campus of Institute of Space and Astronautical Science. Thank you for everyone's support. We will do our best next year, so please come all means.
Special exhibition 2017 was held at Sagamihara Campus of Institute of Space and Astronautical Science. GREAT Project attended it. We showed the panels that explained antenna logic and held the experiment of parabolic antenna, BS reception by a wok and string telephone. It was crowded with people. The following photos are the state at the time of it.
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We lent one of antenna models to Saku Children Science Dome For The Future.
The photo shows Naoya Man, the director of Saku Children's Science Museum, and an antenna model.
GREAT logo mark has been completed. There are two designs. We plan to use them for documents and goods.
The leaflets for general distribution that describes the contents of the GREAT project has been completed.
We monthly hold meetings with municipal office workers who support our local preparation. The first meeting of this year was held in Tsukuba Space Center. The meeting with Astronaut Yui Kimiya from Nagano was also realized.
The photo shows Astronaut Yui (third from the right), Mr. Numata, GREAT Project Manager (far left), Mr. Uchimura, Project Sub-Manager (far right), and municipal office workers.
