The Nozomi spacecraft was launched on July 4, 1998 by an M-5 launch vehicle from the Kagoshima Space Center launch complex.
Thus, Japan was the third country to send the device to Mars after the Soviet Union and the United States.
The M-5's capabilities were not enough to send Nozomi directly to Mars, so ISAS experts developed a sophisticated strategy of several gravity-assisted maneuvers.
The device was supposed to fly twice near the moon, then receive an extra acceleration blow while flying near the ground, and only then enter the flight path to Mars.
On December 20, 1998, extra acceleration near Earth occurred abnormally, and the station entered orbit outside the Sun.
With high fuel costs, after a series of modifications, it can still be diverted to a new route that guarantees entry to Mars, albeit 4 years later than originally planned.
However, on April 21, 2002, during a severe solar flare, the power distribution system failed and communication with the device became difficult.
Despite all the difficulties, the specialists managed to perform two additional gravitational maneuvers near Earth (December 21, 2002 and June 19, 2003) and steered the station to the shortest route to Mars.
Approaching the orbit of Mars, due to the lack of reliable electrical heating, the hydrazine in the propulsion system tanks gradually froze, no brake pressure could be applied, and on December 9, 2003, Nozomi crossed an altitude of 1000 km above the surface of Mars.
Without entering its circuit.
The only scientific result of this unsuccessful mission was observations of the interplanetary environment that took place in the solar system over the years.🚀🚀🚀