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Aviation History
1985
1985 - 0125.PDF
INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE DIRECTORY Rosat continued Stabilisation 3-axis Power lkW Weight (at launch) 2,300kg Design life 1-5 years Remarks The telescope will be sensitive to X-rays of from 6 to 120 angstroms wavelength. Rosat forms the basis of Dornier's Robus proposed retrievable satellite base. SMM Nasa's Solar Maximum Mission (SMM, or Solar Max) was launched to study solar flares at the peak of the Sun's 11-year sunspot cycle. The satellite was disabled in late 1980 by blown fuses in the attitude- control system. In April 1984 Solar Max was retrieved, repaired, and re-orbited by Shuttle astronauts, extending spacecraft life by two years. Payload gamma-ray spectrometer hard X-ray burst spectrometer hard X-ray imaging spectro meter ultraviolet spectrometer and polarimeter X-ray polychromator coronagraph polarimeter irradiance monitor Owner Nasa Manufacturer Nasa Goddard Orbit circular, 500km high Launch Feb 1980 Delta Stabilisation 3-axis Power 3kW Weight (at launch) 2,320kg Design life 1 year Cost $79m (1980) Remarks First satellite to use Nasa's multimission modular spacecraft bus. Space Telescope Nasa's Hubble Space Telescope will be the largest instrument orbited when it is deployed by Shuttle in 1986. Space Tele scope will be maintained in orbit for 15 years. Instruments will be replaced in space. Relative to Earth-based instru ments, Space Telescope will enlarge observable volume 350 times, detect objects 50 times fainter, provide ten times greater resolution, and cover a wider spectral range from far ultraviolet to far infrared. Payload optical telescope with 2-4m primary mirror and the following focal- plane sensors: wide-field-of-view/planetary camera faint-object camera faint-object spectrometer high-resolution spectrograph high-speed photometer Owner Nasa, with ESA involvement Manufacturer Lockheed Missiles & Space (spacecraft) Perkin-Elmer (telescope) Orbit circular, 500km high, inclined 28-5° Launch by Shuttle in August 1986 Stabilisation 3-axis Power 5kW Weight (at launch) 11,567kg FLIGHT International, 12 January 1985 An historic moment as Nasa's Solar Maximum Mission spacecraft is snared for retrieval, repair, and reorbiting fry Shuttle astronauts in April 1984 Design life 15 years Cost $130m (late 1970s) Remarks Telescope pointing accuracy is 0-007arcsec. Data will be relayed by Nasa's TDRS tracking and data relay satellite system. ESA involvement includes Dornier/Matra (faint-object camera) and British Aerospace/Fokker (solar arrays). Topex Nasa's Topex oceanography satellite will use a radar altimeter to map the sea surface, providing information on global circulation and sea floor topography. Scheduled for launch in 1989, Topex would remain in orbit for three to five years. A co-operative US/French programme is also proposed, called Topex/Poseidon. To reduce costs an' existing satellite design would be modified. Three companies have been awarded $1 million definition contracts'. Fairchild (Multimission Modular Space craft), RCA (Advanced Tiros N), and Rockwell (Navstar). Each will submit two proposals; for a US-only Topex mission for Shuttle launch, and for a US/French Topex/Poseidon mission for Ariane 4 launch. Payload two-frequency radar altimeter microwave radiometer wind scatterometer Owner Nasa or Nasa/CNES Manufacturer to be decided Launch by Shuttle or Ariane 4 in 1989 Orbit 1,300km high, inclined 65°, 10-day repeat cycle Stabilisation 3-axis Design life 3 years minimum Remarks Satellite altitude will be deter mined to within 12cm by laser and radio tracking. The microwave radiometer will measure water vapour content to correct the altimeter for atmospheric inter ference. The wind scatterometer will measure wind speed and direction by observing wave patterns. UARS Nasa's upper atmosphere research satellite (UARS) will examine man's influence on the Earth's ozone layer. Scheduled for launch from Shuttle in October 1989, UARS will remain in orbit for three years carrying sensors to detect and measure gas concentrations and pressures, solar irradiance, and ozone concentration. Payload particle environment monitor cyrogenic limb array spectro meter microwave limb sounder stratospheric and mesopheric sounder solar backscatter ultraviolet radiometer halogen occultation experiment Owner Nasa Manufacturer General Electric Orbit 600km high, inclined 57° Launch by Shuttle in October 1989 Stabilisation 3-axis Power l-5kW Weight 500kg Design life 3 years Ulysses Formerly the International Solar Polar Mission, Ulysses is a joint European Space Agency/Nasa project to investigate the solar wind, the sun/wind interface, 53
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