The HEASARC Missions Pages

L. Whitlock and J. Allen

HEASARC

A series of pages has been put on the HEASARC WWW node which give information regarding previous, current, and future high energy astrophysics orbital missions and/or instrumentation. Access to these pages can be gained by selecting the "High Energy Astrophysics Missions and Observatories" link from the HEASARC home page, or by going directly to the main Missions Page at /docs/corp/observatories.html. In addition, we have collected some images from many of the missions which can be reached either from the HEASARC home page "HEASARC Images and Video Archive" link, from the main Images page or from the images link found at the bottom of individual Missions Pages.

The Missions Information is presented in several ways:

* An alphabetical listing of all missions: gamma-ray and X-ray, past, present, and future. The user can select any mission name, and such a selection will take the user to the individual page for that particular mission.

* A graphical presentation of the previous and current X-ray missions (defined as having an instrument whose lowest energy sensitivity is in the range 0.05 keV < Emin < 20 keV). One graph has the missions shown as a function of their lifetime. A second graph shows the missions as a function of their energy range. Note that we present the total energy range covered, not necessarily the specific instrument energy ranges for each mission. In other words, if a mission carried 2 detectors, one covering 1-10 keV and the other covering 50-100 keV, the graph would show this mission as covering 1-100 keV.

* A graphical presentation of the previous and current gamma-ray missions (defined as having an instrument whose lowest energy sensitivity is > 100 keV). One graph has the missions shown as a function of their lifetime. A second graph shows the missions as a function of their energy range. Note that, again, we present the total energy range covered, not necessarily the specific instrument energy ranges for each mission. In other words, if a mission carried 2 detectors, one covering 1-10 MeV and the other covering 50-100 MeV, the graph would show this mission as covering 1-100 MeV.

* A graphical presentation of the future X-ray and gamma-ray missions which are already approved and in development. The "future missions as a function of time" graph is intended to show the predicted launch timeframe of the mission. Projected lifetimes after launch are not displayed.

Note that for all of these graphical displays, the user can get mission specific information by selecting either the mission name or the bar which represents the parameters for the mission. Such a selection will take the user to the individual page for that particular mission. Text alternatives are available for all graphically challenged browsers.

We have tried to accumulate information for each individual mission which includes launch date, descent/decay date, orbital information, and other "mission" type data. We also attempted to describe the X-ray or gamma-ray instrument(s) aboard, their physical characteristics and operating parameters. Lastly, we have tried to present some brief science results from each instrument or mission. References from which the information on the page was taken, or which can add further information regarding the mission are also given. We apologize if we have left out any particularly significant achievements. We have tried to do the best we can while remaining necessarily brief. For current and future missions which have active nodes elsewhere on the WWW, a selection will take you to those nodes.

For all of the information found on the pages (and any missing information), we would appreciate user feedback regarding additions, corrections, and suggestions.

Table 1 gives a list of all of the past and current missions for which we currently have information available on-line.

Table 1

Satellite            Energy+         Launch    End       Comments
                Low       High      Date      Date*
 
Explorer 11     50 MeV    500 MeV   61/04/27  61/09/10  saw 22 'celestial' g-rays
Discoverer 29                       61/08/30  61/09/04
Discoverer 31                       61/09/17  61/10/26
Discoverer 34                       61/11/05  62/12/07
Ranger 3        20 keV    3000 keV  62/01/26  62/01/26  measured g-ray bkg on way to Moon
OSO 1           50 keV    3000 keV  62/03/07  63/08/06  defined g-ray bkg detection problems
Ranger 5        20 keV    3000 keV  62/10/18  62/10/21  measured g-ray bkg on way to Moon
OGO 1                               64/09/05            detected some g-ray bursts
Cosmos 60       500 keV   2000 keV  65/03/12  65/03/17  measured g-ray bkg
Proton 1        50 MeV              65/07/16  65/10/11  measured g-ray intensity & spectrum
ORS 3           30 keV    10 MeV    65/07/20  65/11/03  also called ERS 17
Proton 2        50 MeV              65/11/02  66/02/06  measured g-ray intensity & spectrum
Luna 10         300 keV   3000 keV  66/03/31  66/04/03  measured g-ray bkg on way to Moon
OGO 3                               66/06/07            detected some g-ray bursts
Luna 12         300 keV   3000 keV  66/10/22  66/10/26  measured g-ray bkg on way to Moon
Cosmos 135      400 keV   2500 keV  66/12/12  67/04/12
OSO 3           7.7 keV   400 MeV   67/03/08  69/11/10  diffuse X-ray bkg; g-ray bursts
ORS 4           250 keV   6000 keV  67/04/28  68/06/03  also called ERS 18; diffuse bkg
Cosmos 163      300 keV   3700 keV  67/06/05  67/10/11
OSO 4           8 keV     200 keV   67/10/18  71/12/07  off 69/1100-70/0306
OGO 5           9.6 keV             68/03/04            X- and g-ray bursts
Cosmos 208                          68/03/21  68/04/02
Cosmos 215                          68/04/19  68/06/30
ESRO-2B         0.2 keV   12.5 keV  68/05/17  71/05/08  X-ray detector fail 68/1200
Cosmos 262                          68/12/26  69/07/18
OSO 5           14 keV    255 keV   69/01/22  75/07/00  measured diffuse bkg
Cosmos 264                          69/01/23  69/02/05
Vela 5a         3 keV     750 keV   69/05/23  79/04/00  X-ray detector failed 70/0724
Vela 5b         3 keV     750 keV   69/05/23  79/06/19  data recording poor after 6/76
OGO 6           23 keV    500 keV   69/06/05  79/10/12  some X-ray & g-ray burst coincidences
OSO 6           27 keV    189 keV   69/08/09  72/01/00  some X-ray & g-ray burst coincidences
Vela 6a & 6b    3 keV     1500 keV  70/04/08  79/04/00  X-ray fail 72; g-ray fail 79
Uhuru           2 keV     20 keV    70/12/12  73/03/00  first dedicated cosmic X-ray obser.
IMP 6           53 keV    1150 keV  71/03/14  72/09/27  detected 6 g-ray bursts
Cosmos 428      2 keV     30 keV    71/06/24  71/07/06  detected some point sources
Solrad 10                           71/07/08  79/12/15  non-solar pointing by command
Apollo 15       550 keV   8600 keV  71/07/26  71/08/07  measured g-ray bkg on way to Moon
OSO 7           1 keV     10 MeV    71/09/29  74/07/09  monitored g-ray bkg
Cosmos 461      28 keV    4100 keV  71/12/02  79/02/21  measured diffuse g-ray bkg; 1 g-ray burst
TD-1A           3 keV     300 MeV   72/03/11  73/07/00  g-ray fail 10/92; X-ray fail 3/92
Apollo 16       550 keV   8600 keV  72/04/16  72/04/27  measured g-ray bkg on way to Moon
Prognoz 2       400 keV   11.8 MeV  72/06/29  72/12/15  first Franco-Soviet SIGNE g-ray detector
Copernicus      0.5 keV   10 keV    72/08/21  73/07/00
Radsat          40 keV    2800 keV  72/10/02  73/05/00  also called P72-1 or 1972-076B
IMP 7           53 keV    1150 keV  72/10/12  78/10/31  detected g-ray bursts
SAS 2           20 MeV    1 GeV     72/11/15  73/06/08
Cosmos 561                          73/05/25  73/06/06
Mars 4          1000 keV  9000 keV  73/07/21  74/02/10  measured g-ray bkg on way to Mars
Mars 5          1000 keV  9000 keV  73/07/25  74/02/12  measured g-ray bkg on way to Mars
Skylab          0.12 keV  0.3 keV   73/07/28  73/07/28  detector aboard 3rd stage booster unit
ANS             0.2 keV   30 keV    74/08/30  76/04/26  off 75/1211 - 76/0301
Ariel 5         0.3 keV   40 keV    74/10/15  80/03/14
Salyut 4        0.2 keV   10 keV    74/12/26  77/02/02  Soviet space station; Filin detector
Aryabhata       2.5 keV   20 MeV    75/04/19  75/04/23  Power failed after 4 days
SAS 3           0.15 keV  60 keV    75/05/07  79/04/09
Cosmos 731                          75/05/21  75/06/02
OSO 8           0.15 keV  1000 keV  75/06/21  78/10/15
Apollo-Soyuz    0.18 keV  10 keV    75/07/17  75/07/19  Apollo 18 & Soyuz 19
COS B           30 MeV    5 GeV     75/08/09  82/04/25
Helios 2        60 keV    1500 keV  76/01/15  81/00/00  detected g-ray bursts
Solrad 11a      200 keV   2000 keV  76/04/15  77/07/00  detected several g-ray bursts
Solrad 11b      200 keV   2000 keV  76/04/15  76/12/00  detected several g-ray bursts
Cosmos 856      100 MeV   4 GeV     76/09/22  76/09/05
Cosmos 914      100 MeV   4 GeV     77/05/31  77/06/13
SIGNE 3         20 keV    10 MeV    77/06/17  79/06/22  g-ray telescope
HEAO 1          0.15 keV  10 MeV    77/08/12  79/01/09
Prognoz 6       20 keV    3000 keV  77/09/22  78/03/00  detected g-ray bursts
PVO             100 keV   2000 keV  78/05/20  92/10/08  detected g-ray bursts
ISEE 3          5 keV     3000 keV  78/08/12  82/00/00  renamed ICE; sent thru comet tail
Venera 11       5 keV     3000 keV  78/09/09  80/02/00  detected g-ray bursts
Venera 12       5 keV     3000 keV  78/09/14  80/04/00  detected g-ray bursts
Prognoz 7       50 keV    3000 keV  78/10/30  79/06/00  detected g-ray bursts
HEAO 2          0.1 keV   4 keV     78/11/13  81/04/15
Hakucho         0.1 keV   100 keV   79/02/21  84/00/00
P78-1           3 keV     10 keV    79/02/24  85/09/13  shot down by USAF ASAT test
Ariel 6         0.25 keV  50 keV    79/06/02  82/02/00  jammed by ground radar
Cosmos 1106                         79/06/12  79/06/25
HEAO 3          50 keV    10 MeV    79/09/20  81/05/29
SMM             30 keV    100 MeV   80/02/14  89/12/02
Venera 13       3 keV     2000 keV  81/10/30  83/03/00  detected g-ray bursts
Venera 14       3 keV     2000 keV  81/11/04  83/03/00  detected g-ray bursts
Tenma           0.1 keV   60 keV    83/02/20  85/00/00
Astron          2 keV     25 keV    83/03/23  88/00/00  observed some X-ray point sources
EXOSAT          0.05 keV  40 keV    83/05/26  86/04/09
Prognoz 9       40 keV    8000 keV  83/07/01  84/03/00  detected g-ray bursts
Spacelab 1      2 keV     30 keV    83/11/28  83/12/08  shuttle mission STS-9
Spartan 1       1 keV     12 keV    85/06/20  85/06/22  shuttle mission STS-51G
Spacelab 2      2.5 keV   25 keV    85/07/29  85/08/06  shuttle mission STS-51F
Ginga           1 keV     400 keV   87/02/05  91/11/01
Kvant           2 keV     800 keV   87/03/31  --------  on Mir; turned off 10/89-10/90
DMSP 8          20 keV    1000 keV  87/06/20  94/08/01
DMSP 9          20 keV    1000 keV  88/02/03  92/04/03
Phobos 1        4 keV     9000 keV  88/07/07  88/09/02  detected g-ray bursts
Phobos 2        4 keV     9000 keV  88/07/12  89/03/27  detected g-ray bursts
Granat          2 keV     1000 keV  89/12/01  --------
ROSAT           0.1 keV   2.4 keV   90/06/01  --------
Gamma           20 keV    6 GeV     90/07/11  92/00/00
Ulysses         5 keV     150 keV   90/10/06  --------  passed over south solar pole 6/94
DMSP 10         20 keV    1000 keV  90/12/01  94/09/26
BBXRT           0.3 keV   12 keV    90/12/02  90/12/11  shuttle mission STS-35 (ASTRO 1)
CGRO            30 keV    3 GeV     91/04/05  --------
DMSP 11         20 keV    1000 keV  91/11/28  --------
SROSS 3         20 keV    3000 keV  92/05/20  92/07/14  detected a few g-ray events
EURECA          6 keV     150 keV   92/07/31  93/07/01  delivered/retrieved by Shuttles
Mars Observer   45 keV    1500 keV  92/09/25  93/08/21  g-ray burst detector saw a few bursts
DXS             0.15 keV  0.28 keV  93/01/00  93/01/00  shuttle mission STS-54
ASCA            0.5 keV   12 keV    93/02/20  --------
ALEXIS          0.066 keV 0.093 keV 93/04/25  --------  damaged during deployment
DMSP 12         20 keV    1000 keV  94/08/29  --------
GGS-Wind        10 keV    10 MeV    94/11/01  --------
DMSP 13         20 keV    1000 keV  95/03/24  --------

* blank when unknown, ------ when still providing data.

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