Present Status of Fuji-OSCAR 20
More than six years have passed since FO-20 got its orbit. FO-20 is still
working steadily. Capacity of Nickel-Cadmium storage battery is decreasing
gradually, and solar cells are also showing degradation, however, they can
still supply power of some 10 W. Since middle of June till March next year
FO-20 is to be in no-eclipse period or 0% of eclipse rate. In this period
power generation will be enough for FO-20 to make possible to operate BBS
which has been stopped for a long time, owing to being afraid of
malfunctioning of BBS by power shortage.
What is "eclipse rate"?
Eclipse means for a satellite to enter into shadow of the earth. Orbiting
satellite enters into shadow of the earth once every rotation, and a ratio of
shadowing duration to one rotating period is called "eclipse ratio". When an
orbit plane of satellite gets perpendicular to the direction toward the sun,
eclipse ratio becomes zero.