GEOTAIL
Encyclopedia
GEOTAIL is a satellite
observing the Earth
's magnetosphere
. It was developed by ISAS
in association with NASA
, and launched by a Delta II
rocket on July 24, 1992.
From the GEOTAIL website (listed below): "The GEOTAIL satellite was launched on July 24, 1992, by a Delta II launch vehicle from Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA. The primary purpose of this mission is to study the structure and dynamics of the tail region of the magnetosphere with a comprehensive set of scientific instruments. For this purpose, the orbit has been designed to cover the magnetotail over a wide range of distances: 8 Re to 210 Re from the earth. This orbit also allows us to study the boundary region of the magnetosphere as it skims the magnetopause at perigees. In the first two years the double lunar swing-by technique was used to keep apogees in the distant magnetotail. The apogee was lowered down to 50 Re in mid November 1994 and then to 30 Re in February 1995 in order to study substorm processes in the near-Earth tail region. The present orbit is 9 Re x 30 Re with inclination of -7° to the ecliptic plane."
Satellite
In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....
observing the Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
's magnetosphere
Magnetosphere
A magnetosphere is formed when a stream of charged particles, such as the solar wind, interacts with and is deflected by the intrinsic magnetic field of a planet or similar body. Earth is surrounded by a magnetosphere, as are the other planets with intrinsic magnetic fields: Mercury, Jupiter,...
. It was developed by ISAS
Institute of Space and Astronautical Science
is a Japanese national research organization of astrophysics using rockets, astronomical satellites and interplanetary probes. It is a division of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency .- History :...
in association with NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
, and launched by a Delta II
Delta II
Delta II was an American space launch system, originally designed and built by McDonnell Douglas. Delta II is part of the Delta rocket family and was in service from 1989 until November 1, 2011...
rocket on July 24, 1992.
From the GEOTAIL website (listed below): "The GEOTAIL satellite was launched on July 24, 1992, by a Delta II launch vehicle from Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA. The primary purpose of this mission is to study the structure and dynamics of the tail region of the magnetosphere with a comprehensive set of scientific instruments. For this purpose, the orbit has been designed to cover the magnetotail over a wide range of distances: 8 Re to 210 Re from the earth. This orbit also allows us to study the boundary region of the magnetosphere as it skims the magnetopause at perigees. In the first two years the double lunar swing-by technique was used to keep apogees in the distant magnetotail. The apogee was lowered down to 50 Re in mid November 1994 and then to 30 Re in February 1995 in order to study substorm processes in the near-Earth tail region. The present orbit is 9 Re x 30 Re with inclination of -7° to the ecliptic plane."
See also
- International Solar-Terrestrial Physics Science InitiativeInternational Solar-Terrestrial Physics Science InitiativeThe International Solar-Terrestrial Physics Science Initiative is an international research collaboration between NASA, the ESA, and ISAS. Its goal is to study phenomena related to the Sun, solar wind and its effects on Earth....
- Tom KrimigisStamatios KrimigisStamatios M. Krimigis is a Greek-American scientist in space exploration. He has contributed to the majority of the United States' unmanned space exploration programs of the Solar system and beyond. He has contributed to exploration missions to almost every planet of our solar system...
External links
- http://www.stp.isas.jaxa.jp/geotail/
- http://www.isas.jaxa.jp/e/enterp/missions/geotail/index.shtml
- http://pwg.gsfc.nasa.gov/geotail.shtml