|
The
Spacecraft
ACE spacecraft
 |
|  |
| Image
1 | | | The
Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) spacecraft is designed to identify matter
that comes near the Earth and to help scientists better understand the formation
and evolution of the solar system. This matter can come from the Sun, the 'space'
between planets, and the Milky Way galaxy. When reporting space weather, ACE can
provide an advanced warning (about 1 hour) of geomagnetic storms that can affect
Earth systems. It was launched on August 25, 1997. TRT:
:35
Credit: NASA / ISAS
Cluster Spacecraft
|
| | |
| Image
2 | | | Four
identical spacecraft carrying a complement of 11 identical instruments each, were
launched in July and August 2000. The four fly in a close pyramid formation, giving
scientists three-dimensional views of near-Earth space. Specifically they investigate
the solar wind as it crashes into our planet's magnetosphere. TRT:
:33
Credit: NASA / ESA
GEOTAIL Spacecraft
|
|  |
| Image
3 | | | A
joint US/Japanese project, 'Geotail' was the first in a series of five satellites
to better understand the interaction of the Sun, the Earth's magnetic field and
the Van Allen radiation belts. Located in the magnetic tail of the magnetosphere
on the night side of the Earth, an area critical to understanding the interaction
of the Sun and Earth, its primary objective is to study dynamics of the Earth's
magnetotail. The spacecraft was launched on July 24, 1992.
TRT: :12
Credit: NASA / ISAS
IMAGE Spacecraft (g00-004, 053)
|
|  |
| Image
4 | | | Launched
on March 25, 2000, the Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Exploration (IMAGE)
spacecraft obtains continuous global images of charged particles in the Earth's
magnetosphere and tracks these solar storms. One such storm can launch huge amounts
of plasma from the Sun at more than 1 million mph and affect Earth systems. TRT:
:25
Credit: NASA
POLAR Spacecraft
|
|  |
| Image
5 | | | 'Polar'
was launched on February 24, 1996 to study the geospace, or Earth's space environment.
It performs simultaneous, coordinated measurements of key regions including observations
of the entry and transport of solar plasma over Earth's magnetic poles, imaging
of the northern aurora (Northern Lights), and investigations of solar wind properties.
TRT:
:16
Credit: NASA RHESSI
spacecraft
|
|  |
| Image
6 | | | The
Ramaty High-Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) spacecraft watches the
Sun in X-rays and gamma rays. RHESSI is the first spacecraft to make high-resolution
movies of flares using their high-energy radiation. Launched on Feb. 5, 2002,
its primary objective is to study the secrets of how solar flares are produced
in the Sun's atmosphere. RHESSI orbits Earth about 15 times a day and spins on
its axis every 4 seconds.
Credit: NASA
SOHO Spacecraft
|
|  |
| Image
7 | | | Advance
warning of potential bad weather in space is now possible thanks to the Solar
and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft launched in 1995. SOHO operates
at a vantagepoint of about 1 million miles out in space between the Sun and Earth.
It carries 12 instruments and is a joint project with the European Space Agency.
Instruments
include the Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI) that allows scientists to use a sort
of ultrasound capability to see the far side of the Sun and inside it. The Large
Angle Spectrometric Coronograph (LASCO) mimics an eclipse in order to study the
Sun's corona, or outer atmosphere. The Extreme ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT)
allows for a full-disk view of the Sun.
TRT: :21
Credit: NASA /
ESA
SORCE
spacecraft
|
|  |
| Image
8 | | | The
SOlar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) maintains a 24-year legacy of solar
output monitoring that should help explain and predict the effect of the Sun on
the Earth's atmosphere and climate. With four instruments, it orbits Earth 15
times a day and analyzes the Sun's energy in visible, ultraviolet and infrared
wavelengths that can be used to determine solar heating of Earth's oceans, ice,
land and absorbing layers of the atmosphere. SORCE launched in January 2003.
Credit: NASA / LASP
TIMED Spacecraft (g01-022)
|
|  |
| Image
9 | | | Launched
in Dec. 2001, the Thermosphere-Ionosphere-Mesosphere-Energetics and Dynamics (TIMED)
spacecraft is the first to study the region of our atmosphere that acts as a gateway
between Earth's environment and space, called the Mesosphere and Lower Thermosphere/
Ionosphere (MLTI). Scientists hope to get a better understand of how Earth's environment
and surroundings are impacted by solar energy. TRT:
:19
Credit: NASA / APL
TRACE Spacecraft
|
|  |
| Image
10 | | | NASA's
Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE) points its powerful telescope at
the "transition region" of the Sun's atmosphere, a highly volatile and
dynamic region. Sensitive to ultraviolet and extreme-ultraviolet wavelengths of
light, which are invisible to the human eye, scientists are given dynamic views
of solar explosions and coronal mass ejections (CMEs). TRACE was launched on April
1, 1998. TRT:
:32
Credit: NASA / LMSAL Voyager
Spacecraft
|
|  |
| Image
11 | | | The
two Voyager spacecraft send back about 12 hours' worth of data per day at about
the speed of a slow modem and with the power of a 28-watt nightlight. They are
approaching the edges of our solar system. Credit:
NASA
WIND Spacecraft
|
|  |
| Image
12 | | | The
'Wind' spacecraft provides complete plasma, energetic particle, and magnetic field
input for magnetospheric and ionospheric studies. It detects the magnetic field
carried by coronal mass ejection clouds, but its location only allows scientists
about an hour's notice. It can estimate how severe the space storm will be by
measuring the direction of the magnetic field, though. It was launched on November
1, 1994. TRT:
:20
Credit: NASA
YOHKOH Spacecraft
(g01-062)
|
|  |
| Image
13 | | | Japanese
for "sunbeam", the Yohkoh spacecraft celebrated its 10th anniversary
this year. Traveling in a 96-minute, nearly circular orbit, it is the first spacecraft
to continuously observe the Sun in X-rays over an entire cycle (about 11 years).
One of its main purposes is to study high-energy solar flares to scrutinize where
and how the energy is released and particle acceleration takes place. TRT:
:07
Credit: NASA / ISAS Back
to Top | 
