Solar and Heliospheric Observatory
Artist's concept of SOHO
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| Mission type | Solar observation | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Operator | ESA / NASA | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| COSPAR ID | 1995-065A | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SATCAT no. | 23726 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Website | sohowww |
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| Mission duration | 3 years planned 21 years, 3 months and 9 days elapsed |
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| Spacecraft properties | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Manufacturer | Matra Marconi Space | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Launch mass | 1,850 kg (4,080 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Payload mass | 610 kg (1,340 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dimensions | 4.3 m × 2.7 m × 3.7 m (14.1 ft × 8.9 ft × 12.1 ft) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Power | 1500 watts | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Start of mission | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Launch date | 08:08:ss, December 2, 1995 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rocket | Atlas IIAS AC-121 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Launch site | Cape Canaveral LC-36B | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Orbital parameters | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reference system | Sun–Earth L1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Regime | Halo orbit | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Periapsis | 206,448 km (128,281 mi) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Apoapsis | 668,672 km (415,494 mi) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Epoch | planned | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Instruments | |
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| CDS | Coronal Diagnostic Spectrometer |
| CELIAS | Charge, Element, Isotope Analysis |
| COSTEP | Suprathermal & Energetic Particle Analyzer |
| EIT | Extreme UV Imaging Telescope |
| ERNE | Energetic and Relativistic Nuclei and Electron experiment |
| GOLF | Global Oscillations at Low Frequencies |
| LASCO | Large Angle Spectrometer Coronagraph |
| MDI | Michelson Doppler Imager |
| SUMER | Solar UV Measurement of Emitted Radiation |
| SWAN | Solar Wind Anisotropies |
| UVCS | UV Coronagraph and Spectrometer |
| VIRGO | Variability of Solar Irradiance |
ESA solar system insignia for the SOHO mission
The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) is a spacecraft built by a European industrial consortium led by Matra Marconi Space (now Astrium) that was launched on a Lockheed Martin Atlas II AS launch vehicle on December 2, 1995 to study the Sun, and has discovered over 3000 comets. It began normal operations in May 1996. It is a joint project of international cooperation between the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA. Originally planned as a two-year mission, SOHO continues to operate after over 20 years in space. In June 2013, a mission extension lasting until December 2016 was approved.
In addition to its scientific mission, it is the main source of near-real-time solar data for space weather prediction. Along with the GGS Wind, Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) and DSCOVR, SOHO is one of four spacecraft in the vicinity of the Earth–Sun L1 point, a point of gravitational balance located approximately 0.99 astronomical unit (AU)s from the Sun and 0.01 AU from the Earth. In addition to its scientific contributions, SOHO is distinguished by being the first three-axis-stabilized spacecraft to use its reaction wheels as a kind of virtual gyroscope; the technique was adopted after an on-board emergency in 1998 that nearly resulted in the loss of the spacecraft.
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Wikipedia