空间望远镜和天文台 Space telescopes and observatories
1st High Energy Astrophysics Observatory (HEAO 1. GSFC. NASA)
The first of NASA's three High Energy Astronomy Observatories, HEAO 1 was launched aboard an Atlas Centaur rocket on 12 August 1977 and operated until 9 January 1979. During that time, it scanned the X-ray sky almost three times over 0.2 keV - 10 MeV, provided nearly constant monitoring of X-ray sources near the ecliptic poles, as well as more detailed studies of a number of objects through pointed observations.
http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.goV/docs/heao1/heao1.html - Categories: telescope center high_energy space

AKARI
AKARI (formerly ASTRO-F) is an infrared sky survey mission from Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) of the Japan Aerospace eXploration Agency (JAXA) with the participation of the European Space Agency (ESA).
http://www.astro-f.esac.esa.int/ - Categories: telescope infrared space survey

ASTRO Observatory (ASTRO-1 and ASTRO-2)
The ASTRO Observatory had three primary instruments: the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UIT), the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (HUT) and the Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photo-Polarimeter Experiment (WUPPE). The first Astro flight was on December 2-11, 1990. The X-ray experiment Broad Band X-Ray Telescope (BBXRT) was also part of the Astro-1 flight. The second flight was on March 2-18, 1995.
http://archive.stsci.edu/astro/ - Categories: telescope space ultraviolet

Active Magnetospheric Particle Tracer Explorers (AMPTE)
http://sd-www.jhuapl.edu/AMPTE/ampte_mission.html - Categories: telescope particles space

Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS)
The Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) will be installed in the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) during a Space Shuttle mission scheduled in 2000. ACS will increase the discovery efficiency of the HST by a factor of ten. ACS will consist of three electronic cameras and a complement of filters and dispersers that detect light from the ultraviolet at 1200 angstroms to the near infrared at 10,000 angstroms.
http://adcam.pha.jhu.edu/ - Categories: telescope infrared optical space ultraviolet

Advanced Satellite for Cosmology and Astrophysics (ASCA, ex-Astro-D)
ASCA (formerly named Astro-D) is Japan's fourth cosmic X-ray astronomy mission, and the second for which the United States is providing part of the scientific payload. The satellite was successfully launched February 20, 1993.
http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/asca/asca2.html - Categories: telescope high_energy space

Array of Low Energy X-ray Imaging Sensors (ALEXIS)
ALEXIS' X-ray telescopes feature curved mirrors whose multilayer coatings reflect and focus low-energy X-rays or extreme ultraviolet light the way optical telescopes focus visible light. The satellite and payloads were funded by the Department of Energy and built by Los Alamos National Laboratory in collaboration with Sandia National Laboratory and the University of California-Space Sciences Lab. The Launch was provided by the Air Force Space Test Program on a Pegasus Booster on April 25, 1993. The mission is entirely controlled from a small groundstation at LANL.
http://alexis-www.lanl.gov/ - Categories: telescope high_energy space ultraviolet

BeppoSAX Mission (SAX)
The X-ray astronomy satellite BeppoSAX (Satellite per Astronomia X, "Beppo" in honor of Giuseppe Occhialini) is a project of the Italian Space Agency (ASI) with participation of the Netherlands Agency for Aerospace Programs (NIVR).
In the framework of past and future X-ray missions BeppoSAX stands out for its wide spectral coverage, ranging from 0.1 to over 200 keV. The sensitivity of the scientific payload allows the detailed study over the entire energy band of sources as weak as about 1/20 of 3C273. This opens new perspectives in the study of broad band X-ray spectra and variability of cosmic sources. [also in Italian]
http://www.asdc.asi.it/bepposax/ - Categories: telescope center high_energy space

Broad Band X-ray Telescope (BBXRT. GSFC. NASA)
The Broad Band X-ray Telescope (BBXRT) was flown on the space shuttle Columbia (STS-35) on 1990 December 2-December 11, as part of the ASTRO-1 payload. The flight of BBXRT marked the first opportunity for performing X-ray observations over a broad energy range (0.3-12 keV) with a moderate energy resolution (typically 90 eV and 150 eV at 1 and 6 keV, respectively).
http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/bbxrt/bbxrt.html - Categories: telescope high_energy space

INACTIVE LINK ? - 97 --- COnvection ROtation and planetary Transits - Asteroseismology and Search for Exoplanets (COROT)
A space mission of the French Space Agency (CNES), with a launch planned in 2006. COROT stands for COnvection ROtation and planetary Transits.
http://www.lam.oamp.fr/projets/corot/ - Categories: telescope optical planetary space

COsmic Background Explorer (COBE)
http://lambda.gsfc.nasa.gov/product/cobe/ - Categories: telescope infrared radio space

Canadian Satellite Tracking and Orbit Research (CASTOR Satellite Tracking Project)
The Canadian Satellite Tracking and Orbit Research (CASTOR)project, based in Ottawa, Ontario Canada, uses optical telescopes to track earth orbiting satellites and inform the general public about our satellite population that we take for granted every day.
http://www.castor2.ca - Categories: telescope education optical space

Cassini-Huygens Mission to Saturn & Titan (Cassini)
Saturn and Titan will be the destination for the Cassini mission, a project under joint development by NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The U.S. portion of the mission is managed for NASA by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/ - Categories: planetary center infrared optical particles radio space telescope ultraviolet

INACTIVE LINK ? - 107 --- Center for Extreme Ultraviolet Astrophysics (CEA / EUVE)
The Center for Extreme Ultraviolet Astrophysics (CEA) opened in September, 1990. CEA represents the culmination of twenty years of research and student training in the field of EUV astronomy brought to focus by the launch of NASA's research mission, the University of California at Berkeley Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE), on June 7, 1992.
http://www.cea.berkeley.edu/ - Categories: telescope center space ultraviolet

Chandra X-ray Observatory (AXAF)
The Chandra X-ray Observatory is the U.S. follow-on to the Einstein Observatory. Chandra was formerly known as AXAF, the Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility, but renamed by NASA in December, 1998. The Chandra spacecraft carries a high resolution mirror, two imaging detectors, and two sets of transmission gratings.
http://chandra.harvard.edu/ - Categories: telescope high_energy space

Constellation-X
The Constellation X-ray Mission (formerly HTXS) is a Next Generation X-ray Observatory dedicated to observations at high spectral resolution, providing as much as a factor of 100 increase in sensitivity over currently planned high resolution X-ray spectroscopy missions.
http://constellation.gsfc.nasa.gov/ - Categories: telescope high_energy space

Deep Space Network - Goldstone Deep Space Station (DSN)
The NASA Deep Space Network - or DSN - is an international network of antennas that supports interplanetary spacecraft missions and radio and radar astronomy observations for the exploration of the solar system and the universe. The network also supports some Earth-orbiting missions, including emergency support of the Shuttle Space Transportation System.
http://deepspace.jpl.nasa.gov/dsn/index.html - Categories: telescope radio space

INACTIVE LINK ? - 174 --- ESA - VILlafranca Satellite Tracking Station, SPAin (VILSPA)
http://www.vilspa.esa.es/ - Categories: telescope agency radio space

ESA's X-ray Observatory (EXOSAT at GSFC - NASA)
The European Space Agency's X-ray Observatory, EXOSAT, was operational from May 1983 to April 1986. During that time, EXOSAT made 1780 observations of a wide variety of objects, including active galactic nuclei, stellar coronae, cataclysmic variables, white dwarfs, X-ray binaries, clusters of galaxies, and supernova remnants.
http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/exosat/exosat.html - Categories: telescope center high_energy space

INACTIVE LINK ? - 29 --- EUSO - Extreme Universe Space Observatory (EUSO)
The "Extreme Universe Space Observatory - EUSO" is the first Space mission devoted to the investigation of cosmic rays and neutrinos of extreme energy (E > 5 x 10e19 eV), using the Earth's atmosphere as a giant detector, the detection being performed by looking at the streak of fluorescence light produced when such a particle interacts with the Earth's atmosphere.
EUSO is a mission of the European Space Agency ESA, and it is currently under "Phase A" study with a goal for a three year mission starting in 2009. EUSO will be accommodated, as an external payload of the Columbus module, on the ISS International Space Station.
http://www.euso-mission.org/ - Categories: telescope high_energy particles physics space

Einstein Observatory (HEAO-2)
The second of NASA's three High Energy Astrophysical Observatories, HEAO 2, renamed Einstein after launch, was the first fully imaging X-ray telescope put into space. The few arcsecond angular resolution, the field-of-view of tens of arcminutes, and a sensitivity several 100 times greater than any mission before it provided, for the first time, the capability to image extended objects, diffuse emission, and to detect faint sources. It was also the first X-ray NASA mission to have a Guest Observer program. Overall, it was a key mission in X-ray astronomy and its scientific outcome completely changed the view of the X-ray sky.
http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/einstein/heao2.html - Categories: telescope high_energy space
ESA(Space for Europe) (New!)
The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
ESA is an international organisation with 19 Member States. By coordinating the financial and intellectual resources of its members, it can undertake programmes and activities far beyond the scope of any single European country.

European X-ray Observatory Satellite (EXOSAT at ESTEC, ESA)
The Exosat satellite was operational from May 1983 until April 1986 and in that time made 1780 observations in the X-ray band of most classes of astronomical object. The payload consisted of three instruments that produced spectra, images and light curves in various energy bands.
http://www.rssd.esa.int/Exosat - Categories: telescope high_energy space

Exploration of Neighboring Planetary Systems (ExNPS)
NASA's plan for the Exploration of Neighboring Planetary Systems (ExNPS) consists of a long term program of continuous scientific discovery and technological development leading ultimately to the detection and characterization of Earth-like planets around nearby stars.
http://origins.jpl.nasa.gov/library/exnps/ExNPS.html - Categories: telescope infrared optical planetary space

Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE French site)
Site of the French team contributing to Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE).
FUSE est un satellite observatoire de la NASA dédié à la spectroscopie haute résolution dans le domaine ultraviolet. Ce programme est realisé en coopération avec l'Agence Spatiale Canadienne et le Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES). [in French]
http://www.iap.fr/Fuse/ - Categories: telescope space ultraviolet

Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE)
The Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer was launched on June 24, 1999; this satellite astronomy project is based at The Johns Hopkins University. [also in French]
http://fuse.pha.jhu.edu/ - Categories: telescope space ultraviolet

Fast Auroral SnapshoT explorer (FAST)
The NASA Fast Auroral SnapshoT explorer (FAST) satellite is designed to investigate the plasma physics of the auroral phenomena which occur around both poles of the earth.
http://sunland.gsfc.nasa.gov/smex/fast/ - Categories: telescope particles radio space

Full-sky Astrometric Mapping Explorer (FAME)
FAME is an astrometric satellite designed to determine with unprecedented accuracy the positions, distances, and motions of 40 million stars within our galactic neighborhood. It is a collaborative effort between the U.S. Naval Observatory (USNO) and several other institutions. FAME will measure stellar positions to less than 50 microarcseconds. It is a NASA MIDEX mission scheduled for launch in 2004.
http://aa.usno.navy.mil/FAME/ - Categories: telescope optical space

GALaxy Evolution EXplorer (GALEX)
A Space Ultraviolet imaging and spectroscopic mission that will map the global history and probe the causes of star formation over the redshift range 0 < z < 2.
http://www.galex.caltech.edu/ - Categories: telescope space ultraviolet

Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST)
The GLAST Mission is under study for flight in the first decade of the next century. GLAST is a next generation high-energy gamma-ray observatory designed for making observations of celestial gamma-ray sources in the energy band extending from 10 MeV to more than 100 GeV.
http://www-glast.stanford.edu/ - Categories: telescope high_energy space

INACTIVE LINK ? - 94 --- German Interferometer for Multi-channel Photometry and Astrometry (DIVA)
The Deutsches Interferometer fuer Vielkanalphotometrie und Astrometrie (DIVA) is a small astronomy satellite, planned for launch in 2004. It is aimed to measure positions, proper motions and parallaxes, brightness and color of at least 30 million stars.
This amount and the high precision is unreached so far by any predecessor mission. In a sense it is a pathfinder mission for the technology of upcoming cornerstone missions in the ESA Horizon 2000+ and the NASA Origins programmes like GAIA, DARWIN, LISA, SIM etc.
http://www.ari.uni-heidelberg.de/diva/ - Categories: telescope infrared optical space ultraviolet

Ginga (ex Astro-C)
Astro-C, renamed Ginga (Japanese for 'galaxy'), was launched from the Kagoshima Space Center on 5 February 1987. The primary instrument for observations was the Large Area Counter (LAC). Ginga was the third Japanese X-ray astronomy mission, following Hakucho and Tenma. Ginga reentered the Earth's atmosphere on 1 November 1991.
http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/ginga/ginga.html - Categories: telescope high_energy space

Global Astrometric Interferometer for Astrophysics (GAIA)
GAIA is a preliminary concept for a second space astrometry mission (after HIPPARCOS), recently recommended within the context of ESA's Horizon 2000 Plus long-term scientific programme. It is aimed at the broadest possible astrophysical exploitation of optical interferometry using a modest baseline length.
http://www.rssd.esa.int/gaia/ - Categories: telescope optical space

Groupe Astronomie de Spa (GAS)
Groupe Astronomie de Spa (Belgium)
http://www.groupeastronomiespa.be - Categories: education astroweb people space telescope

Herschel Science Centre (ex-FIRST)
The `Herschel Space Observatory' - the mission formerly known as FIRST - will perform photometry and spectroscopy in the 60-670 µm range.
http://www.rssd.esa.int/herschel - Categories: telescope infrared space

High Energy Astrophysics Observatories (HEASARC. GSFC. NASA)
Comprehensive list of satellites with high energy astrophysics instrumentation. Includes images from these missions.
http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/corp/observatories.html - Categories: telescope high_energy pictures space

High Energy Transient Explorer (HETE-2)
The High Energy Transient Explorer is a small scientific satellite designed to detect and localize gamma-ray bursts.
http://space.mit.edu/HETE/ - Categories: telescope high_energy space

High Energy X-ray Timing Experiment (HEXTE)
The High Energy X-ray Timing Experiment is one of 3 common-user instruments on board the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) which was launched on 1995 December 30. The HEXTE is sensitive to X-rays from 15 to 250 keV and is able to time-tag photons in this energy range to 8 microseconds.
http://mamacass.ucsd.edu/hexte/hexte.html - Categories: telescope high_energy space

Hubble Space Telescope (HST)
The Hubble Space Telescope is a cooperative program of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to operate a long-lived space-based observatory for the benefit of the international astronomical community. To accomplish this goal and protect the spacecraft against instrument and equipment failures, NASA had always planned on regular servicing missions. Hubble has special grapple fixtures, 76 handholds, and stabilized in all three axes. HST is a 2.4-meter reflecting telescope which was deployed in low-Earth orbit (600 kilometers) by the crew of the space shuttle Discovery (STS-31) on 25 April 1990. HST's current complement of science instruments include three cameras, two spectrographs, and fine guidance sensors (primarily used for astrometric observations). Because of HST's location above the Earth's atmosphere, these science instruments can produce high resolution images of astronomical objects. Ground-based telescopes can seldom provide resolution better than 1.0 arc-seconds, except momentarily under the very best observing conditions. HST's resolution is about 10 times better, or 0.1 arc-seconds.
http://www.stsci.edu/hst/ - Categories: telescope infrared optical space ultraviolet

INTERBALL
INTERBALL is the solar-terrestrial programme aimed to study various plasma processes in the Earth magnetosphere by the system of spacecraft consisting of two pairs (satellite-subsatellite) above the polar aurora and in the magnetospheric tail respectively. The project INTERBALL is a part of of the Programme coordinated by the Inter-Agency Consultative Group (IACG) for Space Science consisting of representatives of ESA, NASA, RKA and Japan Institute of Space and Aeronautics Sciences. According to this Programme a system of ten core spacecraft of the listed above agencies is spatially distributed between the L1 and L2 Sun-Earth libration points to study solar-terrestrial relationship.
http://www.iki.rssi.ru/interball/ - Categories: telescope particles planetary radio space

INTErnational Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory (INTEGRAL)
ESA's INTErnational Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory is detecting some of the most energetic radiation that comes from space. It is the most sensitive gamma-ray observatory ever launched. INTEGRAL is an ESA mission in cooperation with Russia and the United States.
http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/area/index.cfm?fareaid=21 - Categories: telescope high_energy space

Infra-Red Space Interferometer DARWIN (IRSI / DARWIN)
The `InfraRed Space Interferometry Mission' DARWIN (IRSI or DARWIN) is a cornerstone mission in the ESA `Horizon 2000+' science plan.
The goals for this space mission is for the first time to detect terrestial planets in orbit around other stars than our Sun.
http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/area/index.cfm?fareaid=28 - Categories: telescope infrared planetary space

INACTIVE LINK ? - 223 --- InfraRed Array Camera for Spitzer Space telescope (IRAC)
The Spitzer Space Telescope (ex-Space InfraRed Telescope Facility Spitzer), contains three focal plane instruments, one of which is the Infrared Array Camera (IRAC). IRAC is a four-channel camera that provides simultaneous 5.12 x 5.12 arcmin images at 3.6, 4.5, 5.8, and 8 microns.
http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/cfa/oir/Research/irac/firstpage.html - Categories: telescope infrared space

InfraRed Spectrograph on Spitzer Space Telescope (IRS)
The Infrared Spectrograph (IRS) is one of three instruments to be flown in the Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF).
http://isc.astro.cornell.edu/ - Categories: telescope infrared space

Infrared Space Observatory (ISO)
The Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) has been an ESA (European Space Agency) mission with the participation of ISAS (Japan) and NASA (USA). This WWW server is maintained at the ISO Data Centre, which is based at Villafranca, Madrid, and is part of the Astrophysics Division of the Space Science Department.
http://www.iso.vilspa.esa.es/ - Categories: telescope infrared space

Infrared Space Observatory U.S. Support Center (ISO)
U.S. science support center for observers using the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO), a fully approved and funded project of the European Space Agency (ESA).
http://www.ipac.caltech.edu/iso/ - Categories: telescope infrared space

INACTIVE LINK ? - 482 --- JWST ListServs (ex-NGST ListServs)
This URL takes you to a WWW page where you can subscribe to a number of listservs devoted to the Next Generation Space Telescope project. You may subscribe to any of them. Posting is restricted. Right now, these are used as ways to inform the community about progress in the project. The web site contains links for feedback to the project team members.
http://www.jwst.nasa.gov/News/lists/ - Categories: newsgroup infrared space telescope

James Webb Space Telescope (JWST, ex-NGST)
The JWST is a critical component of NASA's Origins Program. It will be a telescope of aperture greater than 4m, radiatively cooled to 30 - 60 deg.K, permitting extremely deep exposures at near infrared wavelengths with a 10 year life. A key requirement is to break the HST cost paradigm through the use of new technology and management methods. This site is designed to serve as the starting point for finding online NGST Study documentation.
There is also a public home page at NASA, and a European site at ST-ECF.
http://www.jwst.nasa.gov/ - Categories: telescope infrared space

INACTIVE LINK ? - 160 --- LECS Instrument on BeppoSAX (SAX, ESTEC, ESA)
SAX is devoted to systematic, integrated and comprehensive studies of galactic and extragalactic X-ray sources in the energy band 0.1 - 200 keV; the observational goal to be addressed is to continue and expand upon previous spectral and timing observations of celestial sources in those areas for which the existing information is missing or inadequate and will remain uncovered in the foreseable future.
http://www.rssd.esa.int/SA-general/Research/Sax/index.html - Categories: telescope high_energy space

Large Angle and Spectrographic Coronagraph for SOHO (LASCO/SOHO)
This instrument monitors the solar corona above the Sun's limb in a similar way as we perceive the corona during a solar eclipse. It produces images of the corona in the visible spectrum and with distance off the Sun's center ranging from 1.1 to 32 solar radii.
http://star.mpae.gwdg.de/indexe.shtml - Categories: telescope optical solar space

Low Energy Gamma-Ray Imager (LEGRI)
LEGRI is a payload for the first mission of the Spanish MINISAT platform. The objective of LEGRI is to demonstrate the viability of HgI2 detectors for space astronomy, providing imaging and spectroscopical capabilities in the 10-100 keV range.
http://www.sr.bham.ac.uk/instrument/legri.html - Categories: telescope high_energy space

MOnitoring X-ray Experiment (MOXE)
The MOnitoring X-ray Experiment (MOXE) is an X-ray all-sky monitor to be launched on the Russian Spectrum-X-Gamma satellite. It will monitor several hundred X-ray sources on a daily basis, and will be the first instrument to monitor the complete X-ray sky simultaneously. MOXE is built by Los Alamos Nat Lab, Goddard Space Flight Center and Space Research Institute (Moscow).
http://nis-www.lanl.gov/nis-projects/moxe/ - Categories: telescope high_energy space

MPE Garching site for COMPTEL (onboard Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory)
Local project documentation and utilities as well as collaboration-wide information sources are maintained by the MPE COMPTEL people for: COMPTEL Data Reduction Group work: documents, scientific results and utilities used by the data analysts, the processing team and the scientists. COMPASS software system work : technical and management documents, used and maintained by the MPE software team. the local computing environment : documents on system configuration, maintained by the MPE/RZG software team. MPE - COMPTEL People Matters: the weekly activity list individual 'home pages'
http://www.mpe.mpg.de/gamma/COMPTEL/ - Categories: telescope high_energy space

Magellan Mission to Venus
NASA's Magellan spacecraft made a dramatic conclusion to its highly successful mission at Venus when it is commanded to plunge into the planet's dense atmosphere Tuesday, October 11, 1994. During its four years in orbit around Earth's sister planet, the spacecraft has radar-mapped 98 percent of the surface and collected high-resolution gravity data of Venus. The purpose of the crash landing is to gain data on the planet's atmosphere and on the performance of the spacecraft as it descends. Up-to-date status reports will be available from this WWW page, which also offers Venus images and other highlights from the mission.
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/magellan/ - Categories: telescope space

INACTIVE LINK ? - 81 --- Microlensing Planet Finder Project (MPF, ex-GEST)
The Microlensing Planet Finder Project (MPF) is by far the most powerful proposed observatory for finding large numbers of planetary systems. It answers the following questions: How many planets are there? How are they distributed in mass and distance from their parent stars, and in distance from the Galactic Center? How many have large moons? How many have been expelled from their systems? None of these questions are fully addressed by other techniques particularly if the abundance is low. MPF will do this by observing microlensing signals from 100 million stars in the Galactic bulge for 4 observing seasons, and it will have sensitivity to planets with masses as low as 0.1 M\oplus at separations > 0.7 AU. MPF will be sensitive to analogs of all the planets in the solar system except for Mercury and Pluto and will complement the Kepler mission.
http://bustard.phys.nd.edu/GEST/ - Categories: telescope optical planetary space

Microvariability and Oscillations of STars (MOST)
MOST is Canada's first space science microsatellite and its first optical space telescope project, aiming for launch in late 2001. MOST is designed to measure (as its acronym implies) Microvariability & Oscillations of STars in broadband light with a precision of a few micromagnitudes over timescales from minutes to days. The resulting eigenfrequency data will be used primarily for stellar seismology, to probe the structure and ages of Sun-like stars, magnetic stars, Wolf-Rayet stars and halo subdwarfs. The subdwarfs are expected to yield age estimates which would place a meaningful lower limit on the age of the Universe. MOST should also be capable of confirming the presence of giant extrasolar planets identified in Doppler surveys.
http://www.astro.ubc.ca/MOST/ - Categories: telescope optical space

Midcourse Space Experiment (MSX)
The MSX observatory is a Ballistic Missile Defense Organization project which offers major benefits for both the defense and civilian sectors. It was launched on a Delta II vehicle on April 24, 1996, into a 900 km, polar, near-Sun synchronous orbit. The spacecraft featured an advanced multispectral image capability to gather data on test targets and space background phenomena.
The infrared sensors operated at 11 to 12 degrees Kelvin by employing a solid hydrogen cryostat. The IR instruments span the range 4.2 - 26 microns. The focal plane array consists of five bands and the radiometer beam-size is more than 25 times smaller than IRAS. As a result, much greater spatial resolution than anything currently available has been obtained. The cryogen phase of the mission ended on 26 February 1997. During the ten month cryogen phase of the mission over 200 Giga Bytes of data on Celestial Backgrounds were obtained.
See the MSX Celestial Backgrounds Team Home Page for additional details.
http://www.ipac.caltech.edu/ipac/msx/msx.html - Categories: telescope center infrared physics planetary solar space

Multiband Imaging Photometer for Spitzer Space Telescope (MIPS)
The Multiband Imaging Photometer for SIRTF (MIPS) is a far-infrared photometer, one of three instruments on Spitzer, launched on 25 August of 2003.
http://mips.as.arizona.edu/ - Categories: telescope infrared space

PLANCK (ex-COBRAS/SAMBA)
Planck is the third Medium-Sized Mission (M3) of ESA's Horizon 2000 Scientific Programme. It is designed to image the anisotropies of the Cosmic Background Radiation Field over the whole sky, with unprecedented sensitivity and angular resolution. Planck will provide a major source of information relevant to several cosmological and astrophysical issues, such as testing theories of the early universe and the origin of cosmic structure.
Planck was formerly called COBRAS/SAMBA. After the mission was selected and approved, it was renamed in honor of the German scientist Max Planck (1858-1947), Nobel Prize for Physics in 1918.
http://www.rssd.esa.int/index.php?project=PLANCK - Categories: telescope infrared radio space

POLAR Spacecraft
Exloring through the Solar Cycle. Instruments: Plasma Waves Investigation (PWI), Magnetic Fields Experiment (MFE), Toroidal Imaging Mass-Angle Spectrograph (TIMAS), Electric Fields Investigation (EFI), Thermal Ion Dynamics Experiment (TIDE), Ultraviolet Imager (UVI), Visible Imaging System (VIS), Polar Ionospheric X-Ray Imaging Experiment (PIXIE), Charge and Mass Magnetosperic Ion Composition Experiment (CAMMICE), Comprehensive Energetic-Particle Pitch-Angle Distribution - Source/Loss Cone Energetic Particle Spectrometer (CEPPAD/SEPS), Hot Plasma Analyzer (HYDRA).
http://istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/istp/polar/ - Categories: telescope high_energy optical particles space ultraviolet

ROSAT
Roentgen Satellite (X-ray satellite) operated by the Max-Planck-Institut f黵 Extraterrestrische Physik (MPE), Garching, Germany.
http://wave.xray.mpe.mpg.de/rosat/ - Categories: telescope high_energy space

ROentgen SATellite (ROSAT at GSFC. NASA)
ROSAT, the ROentgen SATellite, is an X-ray observatory developed through a cooperative program between the Germany, the United States, and the United Kingdom. The satellite was designed and is operated by Germany, and was launched by the United States on June 1, 1990.
http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/rosat/rosat3.html - Categories: telescope space high_energy

RXTE Guest Observer Facility (GFSC)
The Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) is a satellite that observes the fast-moving, high-energy worlds of black holes, neutron stars, X-ray pulsars and bursts of X-rays that light up the sky and then disappear forever.
http://xte.gsfc.nasa.gov/ - Categories: telescope high_energy space

Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI, ex-HESSI)
RHESSI's primary mission is to explore the basic physics of particle acceleration and explosive energy release in solar flares. RHESSI is a NASA Small Explorer. RHESSI was launched on February 5, 2002.
http://hesperia.gsfc.nasa.gov/hessi/ - Categories: telescope high_energy solar space

Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer (RXTE)
The Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (1995-present) is designed to facilitate the study of time variability in the emission of X-ray sources with moderate spectral resolution.
http://xte.mit.edu/ - Categories: telescope high_energy space

SOlar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO)
The SOHO project is being carried out by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as a cooperative effort between the two agencies in the framework of the Solar Terrestrial Science Program (STSP).
SOHO was launched on December 2, 1995. The SOHO spacecraft was built in Europe by an industry team led by Matra, and instruments were provided by European and American scientists.
http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/ - Categories: telescope optical particles solar space ultraviolet

Small Explorers (SMEX)
NASA's Small Explorer (SMEX) program provides frequent flight opportunities for highly focused and relatively inexpensive science missions.
http://sunland.gsfc.nasa.gov/smex/ - Categories: telescope space

Soft X-Ray Telescope onboard Yohkoh Satellite, ISAS, Japan (description at LMSAL, USA)
Yohkoh (" Sunbeam" in Japanese) is a satellite of the Japanese Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) dedicated to high-energy observations of the Sun, specifically of flares and other coronal disturbances
http://www.lmsal.com/SXT/ - Categories: telescope high_energy solar space

Solar Extreme-ultraviolet Rocket Telescope and Spectrograph (SERTS)
The Solar Extreme-ultraviolet Rocket Telescope and Spectrograph (SERTS) instrument obtains spatially resolved spectra and spectroheliograms over a wide range of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) wavelengths characteristic of temperatures between 5x10^4-3x10^7K, providing information about the Sun's corona and upper transition region. Wavelength coverage is 170-450A with spectral resolution near 10000, spatial resolution as good as 5arcsec, and relative photometric accuracy within +/- 20% over most of its range. This page contains links to information about the instrument, a solar EUV line list between 170 and 450 A from the SERTS-89 flight, and a list of SERTS-related publications. Soon to be added is information about upcoming launches. Also included are links to other WWW servers relevant to solar astronomers.
http://serts.gsfc.nasa.gov/ - Categories: telescope solar space ultraviolet

Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO)
Solar ejections are the most powerful drivers of the Sun-Earth connection. STEREO will: - Provide revolutionary views of the Sun-Earth system. - Trace the flow of energy and matter from the Sun to the Earth. - Reveal the true 3D structure of coronal mass ejections and determine why they happen. - Provide unique alerts for Earth-directed solar ejections. - Two Sun-pointed observatories with identical instrument complements. - Heliocentric orbit drifting away from the Earth, one leading and one lagging. The STEREO observatories are scheduled to be launched in November 2005.
http://stp.gsfc.nasa.gov/missions/stereo/stereo.htm - Categories: telescope particles radio space

Space Interferometry Mission (SIM)
SIM will be NASA's first space interferometer designed specifically for measuring the position of stars. SIM will utilize multiple telescopes placed along a 10-meter (33-foot) structure.
http://sim.jpl.nasa.gov/ - Categories: telescope optical space

Spectrum-X-Gamma Coordination facility (SXG. University of Harvard)
Spectrum-X-Gamma (SXG) is an international high-energy astrophysics observatory which is being built under the leadership of the Russian Space Research Institute (IKI). The US SXG CF supports the US astronomical community in obtaining information about SXG, proposing for and making SXG observations, and performing archival research using the SXG archive
http://hea-www.harvard.edu/SXG/sxg.shtml - Categories: telescope high_energy space

Spitzer Space Telescope (ex-SIRTF)
The Spitzer Space Telescope, formerly known as Space InfraRed Telescope Facility (SIRTF) is the fourth and final element in NASA's family of "Great Observatories". It consists of a 0.85-meter telescope and three cryogenically-cooled science instruments capable of performing imaging and spectroscopy in the 3 - 180 micron wavelength range. Incorporating the latest in large-format infrared detector arrays, Spitzer offers orders-of-magnitude improvements in capability over existing programs. While Spitzer's mission lifetime requirement remains 2.5 years, recent programmatic and engineering developments have brought a 5-year cryogenic mission within reach. Spitzer represents an important scientific and technical bridge to NASA's new Origins program.
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/ - Categories: telescope center education infrared space

Stardust
A space mission that will fly close to a comet and, for the first time ever, bring cometary material back to Earth
http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/ - Categories: telescope optical radio space

Supernova / Acceleration Probe (SNAP)
The Supernova / Acceleration Probe (SNAP) Mission is expected to provide an understanding of the mechanism driving the acceleration of the universe. The satellite observatory is capable of measuring up to 2,000 distant supernovae each year of the three-year mission lifetime.
http://snap.lbl.gov/ - Categories: survey optical space telescope

Swift Gamma Ray Burst Mission
Swift is a three-telescope space observatory (gamma-ray telescope, X-ray telescope, and ultraviolet/optical telescope) for studying gamma ray bursts. Scheduled launch: October 7, 2004.
http://swift.gsfc.nasa.gov/ - Categories: telescope high_energy optical space ultraviolet

Terrestrial Planet Finder (Origins of Stars, Planets... and Life) (TPF)
The Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF) is a key element of NASA Origins Program. It will study all aspects of planets: from their formation and development in disks of dust and gas around newly forming stars to the presence and features of those planets orbiting the nearest stars; from the numbers at various sizes, and places to their suitability as an abode for life. By combining the high sensitivity of space telescopes with the sharply detailed pictures from an interferometer, TPF will be able to reduce the glare of parent stars by a factor of more than one hundred-thousand to see planetary systems as far away as 50 light years.
http://tpf.jpl.nasa.gov/ - Categories: telescope infrared optical planetary space

Uhuru Satellite (GSFC. NASA)
Uhuru was the first earth-orbiting mission dedicated entirely to celestial X-ray astronomy. It was launched on 12 December 1970 into an orbit of about 560 km apogee, 520 km perigee, 3 degrees inclination, with a period of 96 minutes. The mission ended in March 1973.
http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.goV/docs/uhuru/uhuru.html - Categories: telescope high_energy space

Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UIT - Archives at STScI MAST)
The Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UIT) was one of three ultraviolet telescopes on the ASTRO-1 mission flown on the space shuttle Columbia during 2-10 December 1990. The same three instruments were later flown on the space shuttle Endeavour from 3-17 March 1995, as part of the ASTRO-2 mission. Exposures were obtained on 70-mm photographic film in the 1200-3300 Å range using broadband filters and later digitized using a Perkin-Elmer microdensitometer. Image resolution was 3" over a 40' field of view. Overall, UIT-1 obtained 821 exposures of 66 targets, and UIT-2 obtained 758 images of 193 targets.
http://archive.stsci.edu/uit/ - Categories: telescope space ultraviolet

Ulysses Mission (ESA and NASA)
The Ulysses Mission is the first spacecraft to explore interplanetary space at high solar latitudes. Ulysses is a joint endeavor of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the USA. Instruments include: Magnetometer (VHM/FGM), Solar Wind Plasma Experiment (SWOOPS), Solar Wind Ion Composition Instrument (SWICS), Unified Radio and Plasma Wave Instrument (URAP), Energetic Particle Instrument (EPAC), Low-Energy Ion and Electron Experiment (HISCALE), Cosmic Ray and Solar Particle Instrument (COSPIN), Solar X-ray and Cosmic Gamma-Ray Burst Instrument (GRB).
http://helio.esa.int/ulysses/ - Categories: telescope high_energy particles radio solar space

WAVES : The Radio and Plasma Wave Investigation on the WIND Spacecraft (waves)
WAVES radio astronomy instrument on the ISTP-Wind spacecraft.
http://www-lep.gsfc.nasa.gov/waves/waves.html - Categories: telescope physics radio space

WIND spacecraft
WIND was launched on November 1, 1994 and is the first of two NASA spacecraft in the Global Geospace Science (GGS) initiative (the second spacecraft being POLAR). WIND is also part of the International Solar Terrestrial Physics Project (ISTP), it was specially designed to make coordinated observations with the other ISTP spacecraft (Geotail, Interball, Equator-S, Cluster,...). WIND's full capacity duration was of three years, but it has been extended: WIND orbits until 2006.
The science objectives of the WIND mission are: provide complete plasma, energetic particle, and magnetic field input for magnetospheric and ionospheric studies; determine the magnetospheric output to interplanetary space in the up-stream region; investigate basic plasma processes occurring in the near-Earth solar wind; provide baseline ecliptic plane observations to be used in heliospheric latitudes from ULYSSES.
http://www-istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/istp/wind/ - Categories: telescope particles radio space

Wide Field Infrared Explorer (WIRE)
This is the website for NASA's Wide Field Infrared Explorer (WIRE). The primary purpose of WIRE was a four month infrared survey of the universe, focusing specifically on starburst galaxies and luminous protogalaxies.
On 29 Mar 1999, the WIRE mission has been declared a loss.
http://www.ipac.caltech.edu/wire/ - Categories: telescope infrared space

Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP)
The WMAP mission is designed to determine the geometry, content, and evolution of the universe via a 13 arcminute FWHM resolution full sky map of the temperature anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background radiation. The choice of orbit, sky-scanning strategy and instrument/spacecraft design were driven by the goals of uncorrelated pixel noise, minimal systematic errors, multifrequency observations, and accurate calibration. The skymap data products derived from the WMAP observations have 45 times the sensitivity and 33 time the angular resolution of the COBE DMR mission.
http://lambda.gsfc.nasa.gov/product/map/ - Categories: telescope radio space

Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP)
NASA has selected WMAP as one of the next MIDEX missions. It will map the microwave background fluctuations over the whole sky and provide insights into the formation of galaxies and the basic parameters of cosmology.
http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/ - Categories: telescope education radio space

Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photo-Polarimeter Experiment (WUPPE)
The Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photo-Polarimeter Experiment (WUPPE) was a pioneering effort to explore polarization and photometry in the ultraviolet (UV) spectrum. It was the first and most comprehensive effort to exploit the unique powers of polarimetry at wavelengths not visible on Earth. The instrument was designed and built at the University of Wisconsin Space Astronomy Laboratory in the 1980's. WUPPE flew on two NASA Space Shuttle missions: ASTRO-1 and ASTRO-2.
http://www.sal.wisc.edu/WUPPE/ - Categories: telescope space ultraviolet

X-Ray Timing Explorer (XTE. GSFC.NASA)
The Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer is a Goddard mission which was launched on December 30th, 1995. RXTE is designed to facilitate the study of time variability in the emission of X-ray sources with moderate spectral resolution. Time scales from microseconds to months are covered in an instantaneous spectral range from 2 to 250 keV. It is designed for a required lifetime of two years, with a goal of five years.
http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/xte/XTE.html - Categories: telescope high_energy space

XMM-Newton (ESA)
The European Space Agency's X-ray Multi-Mirror satellite is the most powerful X-ray telescope ever placed in orbit. It has an unprecedented sensitivity and the mission will help solve many cosmic mysteries, ranging from enigmatic black holes to the formation of galaxies.
http://www.esa.int/science/xmmnewton - Categories: telescope high_energy space

XMM-Newton Science Operations Centre (XMM, ESA)
ESA s X-ray Multi Mirror mission XMM-Newtion is the second Cornerstone in ESA's Long Term Scientific Programme. With a large collecting area of its mirrors and the high sensitivity of its cameras, XMM-Newton is expected to increase radically our understanding of high-energy sources - clues to a mysterious past, and keys to understanding the future of the Universe.
http://xmm.vilspa.esa.es/ - Categories: telescope high_energy space
　
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