PROJECT SUMMARY
LABORATORY CONTRIBUTIONS
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October 6, 1990 - The Shuttle Discovery launches the Ulysses
spacecraft, an observatory that
orbits outside of the ecliptic in such a path that allows it to be the
first instrument to
study the Sun's heliosphere at high Solar latitudes (up to +/- 70
degrees). The instrument
aims to characterize the heliosphere as a function of solar latitude.
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Mid 1994 - The Bruny Island Radio Spectrometer (BIRS), developed by
Bill Erickson, begins
operation. Dr. Erickson ambitiously took on the challenge of
observing solar radio bursts
below 20 MHz, requiring a significant effort at mitigating the effects
of terrestrial
interference in that much-used band. In addition, the location of the
spectrograph in
Tasmania, Australia is a particularly good environment for observing
radiation at low
frequencies since the ionospheric cutoff frequency is unusually low
there.
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November 1, 1994 - NASA launches the (WIND) spacecraft, which makes
use of a suite of nine
instruments to study the Earth's magnetosphere and ionosphere, and the
energetic particles
and processes in the interplanetary plasma between the Earth and the
Sun.
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Dec 2, 1995 - NASA and the ESA launch the Solar and Heliospheric
Observatory (SOHO) from
Cape Canaveral, a satellite containing 12 sets of instruments for
studying various features
of the Sun including the solar wind and the Sun's changing magnetic
fields. SOHO images the
Sun in the ultraviolet and extreme ultraviolet.
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August 25, 1997 - NASA launches the Advanced Composition Explorer
(ACE), a satellite
composed of 6 high resolution sensors and various other instruments to
investigate the
isotopic and elemental composition of the Sun's corona, the
interstellar and interplanetary
medium, and the larger arena of galactic matter. The goal is to glean
a deeper understanding
of our Solar System's formation and evolution and the external
astrophysical processes that
spurred that evolution.
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April 2, 1998 - NASA launches the Transition Region and Coronal
Explorer (TRACE) spacecraft,
intended to shed light on the physical processes that cause the
dramatic environment shift
between the cool (6000 K) photosphere and the extremely hot
(10,000,000 K) corona by
collecting high spatial and temporal resolution data of that region.
Of particular
interest is magnetic field dynamics in the region.
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February 5, 2002 - NASA launches the Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar
Spectroscopic Imager
(RHESSI), with the objective of studying particle acceleration in
solar flares and its
relation to heating of the solar corona. RHESSI will achieve high
resolution imaging and
spectroscopy of flares with energies from 3 keV (X-rays) to 17 MeV
(gamma rays).
Modified on
Friday, 21-Apr-2006 01:40:40 EDT
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National Radio
