Galaxy Evolution Explorer
Illustration of GALEX
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| Names | Explorer-83, SMEX-7 |
|---|---|
| Mission type | Ultraviolet astronomy |
| Operator |
NASA / JPL Caltech |
| COSPAR ID | 2003-017A |
| SATCAT no. | 27783 |
| Website | http://www.galex.caltech.edu/ |
| Mission duration | Planned: 29 months Final: 10 years and 1 month |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Manufacturer | Orbital Sciences |
| Launch mass | 277 kg (611 lb) |
| Dimensions | 2.7 × 2.0 m (9 × 6.5 ft) |
| Power | 290 W |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | April 28, 2003, 12:00 UTC |
| Rocket | Pegasus XL |
| Launch site | Stargazer, Cape Canaveral |
| Contractor | Orbital Sciences |
| Entered service | May 28, 2003 |
| End of mission | |
| Disposal | Decommissioned |
| Deactivated | June 28, 2013, 19:09 UTC |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Low Earth |
| Semi-major axis | 7,065.55 km (4,390.33 mi) |
| Eccentricity | 0.0003629 |
| Perigee | 684.85 km (425.55 mi) |
| Apogee | 689.98 km (428.73 mi) |
| Inclination | 28.9986° |
| Period | 98.5167 minutes |
| RAAN | 50.7756° |
| Argument of perigee | 189.3734° |
| Mean anomaly | 229.9485° |
| Mean motion | 14.6178 rev/day |
| Epoch | September 13, 2015 13:13:39 UTC |
| Revolution no. | 66130 |
| Main telescope | |
| Type | Ritchey–Chrétien |
| Diameter | 50 cm (19.7 in) |
| Wavelengths | 135–280 nm (Ultraviolet) |
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The Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) is an orbiting ultraviolet space telescope launched on April 28, 2003, and operated until early 2012.
An airlaunched Pegasus rocket placed the craft into a nearly circular orbit at an altitude of 697 kilometres (433 mi) and an inclination to the Earth's equator of 29 degrees.
The first observation was dedicated to the crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia, being images in the constellation Hercules taken on May 21, 2003. This region was selected because it had been directly overhead the shuttle at the time of its last contact with the NASA Mission Control Center.
After its primary mission of 29 months, observation operations were extended to almost 9 years with NASA placing it into standby mode on 7 Feb 2012.
NASA cut off financial support for operations of GALEX in early February 2011 as it was ranked lower than other projects which were seeking a limited supply of funding. The mission's life-cycle cost to NASA was $150.6 million. The California Institute of Technology negotiated to transfer control of GALEX and its associated ground control equipment to the California Institute of Technology in keeping with the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act. Under this Act, excess research equipment owned by the US government can be transferred to educational institutions and non-profit organizations. In May 2012, GALEX operations were transferred to Caltech.
A fund-raising effort called GALEX CAUSE is being run to try and complete its All-Sky UV Survey. Its unique ultraviolet observations shed new light on special studies of galaxies, black-holes, supernova, stars, and beyond.
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