A

David

Darling

Aeros

Aeros

Artist's concept of Aeros in orbit.


In June 1969, NASA and the German Ministry for Scientific Research (BMwF) agreed a cooperative project that would orbit a German scientific satellite designed to study particle behavior in Earth's upper atmosphere. In early 1969 BMwF named the proposed aeronomy satellite after Aeros, ancient Greek god of the air. Aeros, the second US-German cooperative research satellite, following Azur, was designated GRS-A-2 by NASA before launch, assuming its proper name when successfully launched. ("Aeros" also had been used earlier as a name for the Synchronous Meteorological Satellite project.)

 

spacecraft launch date mass orbit
Aeros 1 Dec 16, 1972 127 kg 223 × 867 km × 96.9°
Aeros 2 Jul 16, 1974 127 kg 224 × 869 km × 97.5°