SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory)
A joint ESA (European Space Agency) and NASA mission to investigate the
dynamics of the Sun. SOHO was the second spacecraft
(after ISEE-3, 18 years earlier) to be placed
in a halo orbit – in this case,
an elliptical orbit around the first Lagrangian
point (L1), 1.5 million km ahead of Earth. In this orbit, it avoids
solar eclipses by our planet. The data it collects will help astronomers
understand how the solar corona is heated and how it expands into the solar
wind, and will provide new insight on the Sun's structure and interior dynamics
from the core to the photosphere. The spacecraft was built by ESA, tracking
and data acquisition are shared by NASA and ESA, and mission operations
are conducted by NASA.
| launch date |
Dec. 2, 1995 |
| launch vhicle |
Atlas IIAS |
| launch site |
Cape Canaveral |
| orbit |
elliptical about L1;
semi-major axis 650,000 km |
| size |
3.6 × 3.6 m |
| mass |
1,850 kg |
Related category
• SATELLITES
AND SPACE PROBES
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