NOTICE:This Legacy journal article was published in Volume 6, August 1995, and has not been updated since publication. Please use the search facility above to find regularly-updated information about this topic elsewhere on the HEASARC site. |
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.
* blank when unknown, ------ when still providing data.
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