News Archive

Friday, May 24, 2002 Japanese Probe Nozomi. Credit: CNN.com (CNN) - Most communication with a Japanese space probe flying toward Mars has been cut by large solar flares, the government said Friday. One of the Nozomi spacecraft's communication systems was apparently knocked out by an April 21 burst of solar energy, said Yoshihisa Nemoto of the Education Ministry, which oversees Japan's space program. The 11 billion yen ($88 million) Nozomi was launched on July 4, 1998, to probe the atmospheric movements and topography of Mars, as well as measure solar winds. The probe should reach Mars in 2004, and the probe's other systems appear to still be working.