HiZ-GUNDAM

[tul]

JAXA has a new science mission. The aim of HiZ-GUNDAM is analyzing Gamma Ray Bursts. Launch is planned for 2030 with the Epsilon rocket.


http://gopira.jp/sym2021/3-6-Yonetoku.pdf#page=4
https://www.isas.jaxa.jp/en/missions/spacecraft/future/hiz-gundam.html

[edzieba]

That mission name is going to inspire a lot of Agricultural Ministry jokes.

Joining a GAMMA detector array and an IR telescope in the same vehicle will aid in boresighting, but I'd be curious if it ends up more efficient than separate vehicles that can slew independently (FERMI being used to direct other telescopes).

[Pipcard]

That mission name is going to inspire a lot of Agricultural Ministry jokes.

I guess you haven't heard of Gundam before.

[Asteroza]

That mission name is going to inspire a lot of Agricultural Ministry jokes.

I guess you haven't heard of Gundam before.

Whooosh

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7029685.stm

[Pipcard]

Whooosh

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7029685.stm

Thanks for the info, but I don't believe most people see "Gundam" and the first thing they think of is an incident involving the Agricultural Ministry from 15 years ago.

[edzieba]

Swift and Fermi both used co-located optical and X-ray instruments, but that's not a setup previous JAXA X-ray observatories have used.

Whooosh

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7029685.stm

Thanks for the info, but I don't believe most people see "Gundam" and the first thing they think of is an incident involving the Agricultural Ministry from 15 years ago.

"The Agricultural Ministry is not in charge of Gundam" became a hugely popular meme in Japan (home of the Gundam franchise) and particularly among the domestic fandom, to the point of even spilling over to international news. Expect lots of MAFF/JAXA photoshops once it starts being assembled.

[whitelancer64]

Swift and Fermi both used co-located optical and X-ray instruments, but that's not a setup previous JAXA X-ray observatories have used.

Whooosh

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7029685.stm

Thanks for the info, but I don't believe most people see "Gundam" and the first thing they think of is an incident involving the Agricultural Ministry from 15 years ago.

"The Agricultural Ministry is not in charge of Gundam" became a hugely popular meme in Japan (home of the Gundam franchise) and particularly among the domestic fandom, to the point of even spilling over to international news. Expect lots of MAFF/JAXA photoshops once it starts being assembled.

A. That is hilarious, and B. I'm a long-time anime fan and I hadn't heard of that. You're probably right that this joke will be meme-ified in Japan.

Please keep this thread updated if you see any

[deadman1204]

I eagerly await Their first giant robot in space!

[AndrewM]

https://www.nao.ac.jp/for-researchers/naoj-symposium2023/PDF/NAOJFutureSympo2023-Yonetoku.pdf [Nov 7, 2023]

The schedule on slide 6 shows this mission should be entering the development phase in FY26 and observation phase in Q2/Q3 FY30.

[AndrewM]

Still in early development but if selected, it should move into active development next year.

Concept of the MONSTER onboard the HiZ-GUNDAM satellite [July 14]

The High-z Gamma-ray Bursts for Unraveling the Dark Ages Mission (HiZ-GUNDAM), a Japanese satellite mission,1–3 seeks to detect high-energy transients and enable rapid follow-up observations in the visible and near-infrared (NIR) bands, contributing to advancements in time-domain and multi-messenger astronomy (Fig. 1). The mission concept of HiZ-GUNDAM was selected as a candidate for a competitively chosen medium-class mission by the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) in 2018, and conceptual studies are underway as of 2025. A mission selection review is planned for 2026 or later, and if selected, development will begin with the aim of launching as an official JAXA mission in the 2030s.