Solar Observing Satellites

1. Space Technology Assignment
FG572
Dynamic Sun Observations
Following are some of Solar Observation Satellites/ Space crafts Launch by Various types of
Organizations.
Ulysses (MISSION TO SUN)
Is a Solar Observatory Satellite Launched by the JPL (California Institute of Technology), in
Corporation with NASA.
Type: Orbiter
Status: Past
Launch Date: October 06, 1990
7:47 a.m. EDT (11:47 UTC)
Launch Location: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida
Mission End Date: June 30, 2009
Target: Sun
Destination: Sun
designed as a five-year mission to study the never examined north and south poles of the Sun.
it is also planned to extend mission lifetime by 13 years and collecting data on solar wind,
interstellar dust and the three-dimensional character of solar radiation, Ulysses became one of
the most productive contributors to knowledge of the solar activity cycle.
When its launched to the sun, it used to the Jupiter Gravity Assist to slingshot itself to the
ecliptic solar orbit.
Scientific Instrument(s)
- Solar Wind Ion Composition Spectrometer (GLG/SWICS)
- Solar wind ion analyzer
- Electrostatic analyzer
- Cosmic dust detector
PICARD
Solar Observatory Satellite Launched by CNES, Russia.
Partners: CNRS, Swiss Office for Spatial Affairs, Federal Public Service for the
Programming of Science Policy in Belgium, the PMOD laboratories of the Davos
Observatory and the IRMB.
Between 2010 and 2014, the Picard satellite produced more than 1 million images of the Sun
and many other measures. They are now analyzed in order to better understand the
functioning of our star and the variability of its activity.
Between 2010 and 2014, the Picard micro-satellite made new observations with extreme
precision. it also measured the speed of rotation of the Sun on itself, its flattening at the poles
and the radiated power (total and spectral irradiance). Those Findings will improve the
understanding of the functioning of our star and its impact on the climate of our planet.

2. Type: Orbiter
Position: Heliosynchronous orbit at 725 km from the Sun ensuring a near-uninterrupted
vision of the Sun
Status: Current
Launch Date: 15 June 2010, 14:42:21 UTC
Launch Location: Dombarovsky 370/13
Mission End Date: April 4, 2014 (Planned)
Target: Sun
Destination: Sun
Scientific Instrument(s)
-SOVAP (Solar Variability PICARD)
- PREMOS (Precision Monitor Sensor)
- SODISM (Solar Diameter Imager and Surface Mapper)
SDO | Solar Dynamics Observatory
The Solar Dynamics Observatory is the first mission to be launched for NASA's Living with
a Star (LWS) Program, a program designed to understand the causes of solar variability and
its impacts on Earth. it is designed to help us to understand the Sun's influence on Earth and
Near-Earth space by studying the solar atmosphere (How it impacts on Space Weather).
Basically what is does is determine the solar variations that influence life on Earth and
manmade technological systems.
-How the Sun's magnetic field is generated and structured
-How this stored magnetic energy is converted and released into the heliosphere
and geospace in the form of solar wind, energetic particles, and variations in the solar
irradiance.
Type: Orbiter
Status: Current
Launch Date: February 11, 2010, 10:23 am EST
Launch Location: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida
Mission End Date: Planned for 5-10 Years
Target: Sun
Destination: Low Earth Orbit
Scientific Instrument(s)
- Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) - Provides continuous full-disk observations
of the solar chromosphere and corona in seven extreme ultraviolet (EUV) channels
- EUV Variability Experiment (EVE, Extreme Ultraviolet Variability Experiment)
- Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) - Studies solar variability and
characterizes the Sun's interior and the various components of magnetic activity.

3. STERIO
Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory
This is a project by NASA accomplished by the cooperation of JPL and JHON HOPKINS
Applied Physics Laboratory.
The basic task of STERIO is capture the Sun in 3D. STEREO mission is to obtain the
necessary measurement and observations to develop an understanding of the fundamental
nature and origin of coronal mass ejections - the most energetic eruptions on the sun and
primary cause of major geomagnetic storms. (These powerful solar eruptions are a major
source of the magnetic disruptions on Earth and a key component of space weather, which
can greatly affect satellite operations, communications, power systems, the lives of humans in
space, and global climate.) The mission will use stereoscopic vision to construct global
picture of the sun and its influences. To have that kind of observation STERIO is Equipped
with two Satellite systems (to create stereoscopic image).
Wondering fact of STERIO is the Both Probes were slingshot towards the sun using Lunar
Gravity assistant.
1st LUNAR SWINGBY: DECEMBER 15, 2006
2nd LUNAR SWINGBY: JANUARY 21, 2007
Type: Orbiter
Status: Past
Launch Date: Oct. 25, 2006, at 8:52 p.m. EDT.
Launch Location: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida
Mission End Date: 2 Years
Target: Sun
Destination: Sun
Scientific Instrument(s)
- Sun Earth Connection Coronal and Heliospheric Investigation (SECCHI) an extreme
ultraviolet imager (EUVI), Heliospheric imagers (called the HI1 and HI2) image the space
between Sun and Earth. The purpose of SECCHI is to study the 3-D evolution of coronal
mass ejections through their full journey from the Sun's surface through the corona and
interplanetary medium to their impact at Earth.
- In-situ Measurements of Particles and CME Transients (IMPACT) will study energetic
particles, the three-dimensional distribution of solar wind electrons and interplanetary
magnetic field.
- Plasma and SupraThermal Ion Composition (PLASTIC) will study the plasma
characteristics of protons, alpha particles and heavy ions.
- STEREO/WAVES (SWAVES) is a radio burst tracker that will study radio disturbances
traveling from the Sun to the orbit of Earth.