Advanced Composition Explorer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This spacecraft or satellite related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 An artist's concept of ACE |
|
| Organization | NASA |
|---|---|
| Mission type | Orbiter |
| Satellite of | Earth |
| Launch date | August 25, 1997 |
| Launch vehicle | Delta II |
| Mission duration | 8-25-1997 to 2024 |
| COSPAR ID | 1997-045A |
| Home page | Advanced Composition Explorer Home |
| Mass | 596 kilograms (1,313 lb) |
| Power | 44 Watts |
| Orbital elements | |
| Semimajor axis | 2.57 |
| Eccentricity | 0.98967 |
| Inclination | 28.7° |
| Orbital period | 1,398 hours (58.25 days) |
| Apoapsis | 1,256,768 kilometers (780,919 mi) |
| Periapsis | 179 kilometers (111 mi) |
Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) is a space exploration mission being conducted as part of the Explorer program to study matter in situ, comprising energetic particles from the solar wind, the interplanetary medium, and other sources. Real-time data from ACE is used by the Space Weather Prediction Center to improve forecasts and warnings of solar storms.[1] The ACE robotic spacecraft was launched August 25, 1997 and is currently operating in a Lissajous orbit close to the L1 Lagrange point (which lies between the Sun and the Earth at a distance of some 1.5 million km from the latter). The spacecraft is still in generally good condition, and has enough fuel to maintain its orbit until 2024.[2]
[edit] Instrumentation
Cosmic Ray Isotope Spectrometer (CRIS): CRIS determines the isotope composition of galactic cosmic rays. It is designed to be sensitive enough to detect isotopes up to the range of zinc (Z-30).[3]
ACE Real Time Solar Wind (RTSW):
Solar Wind Ion Mass Spectrometer (SWIMS) and Solar Wind Ion Composition Spectrometer (SWICS): These two instruments are time-of-flight mass spectrometers, each tuned for a different set of measurements. They analyze the chemical and isotopic composition of solar wind and interstellar matter.[4]
Ultra-Low Energy Isotope Spectrometer (ULEIS): ULEIS measures ion flux and is sensitive to a range from helium through nickel to determine the makeup of solar energetic particles and the mechanism by which the particles become charged by the sun.[5]
Solar Energetic Particle Ionic Charge Analyzer (SEPICA): As of 2008, this instrument is no longer functioning due to failed gas valves.[2]
Solar Isotope Spectrometer (SIS):
Solar Wind Electron, Proton and Alpha Monitor (SWEPAM):
Electron, Proton, and Alpha-particle Monitor (EPAM):
Magnetometer (MAG):
[edit] References
- ^ "Satellite to aid space weather forecasting". 06/24/99. http://www.usatoday.com/weather/solar/wswx198.htm. Retrieved on 24 October 2008.
- ^ a b "Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) Home Page". http://www.srl.caltech.edu/ACE/ace_mission.html. Retrieved on 29 June 2009.
- ^ "CRIS: The Cosmic Ray Isotope Spectrometer". 5 September 1997. http://www.srl.caltech.edu/ACE/CRIS_SIS/cris.html. Retrieved on 30 June 2006.
- ^ "ACE/SWICS & ACE/SWIMS". The Solar and Heliospheric Research Group. http://solar-heliospheric.engin.umich.edu/ace/. Retrieved on 30 June 2006.
- ^ "The ACE/ULEIS Homepage". Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. November 1, 2005. http://sd-www.jhuapl.edu/ACE/ULEIS/. Retrieved on 30 June 2006.
[edit] External links
- "Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) Home Page". ACE Science Center. July 1, 2003. http://www.srl.caltech.edu/ACE/. Retrieved on 30 June 2006.
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: ACE (spacecraft) |
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||
 |
This article about a specific observatory, telescope or astronomical instrument is a stub. You can help by expanding it. |
|
This spacecraft or satellite related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
