Also called:
International Ultraviolet
Explorer
Memorandum of Understanding
(MOU)
between NASA and European Space
Agency and the U.K. Science Research Council, 1971
Date of launch (range):
Jan 26, 1978 (ETR)
Launch vehicle:
Thor-Delta 2914
Shape:
octagonal
Weight (kg):
671
Dimensions (m):
1.3, diam. (4.3 with solar arrays
extended)
4.3, length (with telescope
tube)
Power source:
solar arrays plus NiCd battery
Prime contractor:
N/A
Date of reentry:
N/A
NASA's role:
spacecraft, launch vehicle,
spacecraft support, tracking and data acquisition, with ESA
providing the solar arrays and a European ground observatory
and the U.K. providing the image tubes for the spectrograph
and acquisition field camera.
Responsible NASA center:
GSFC
Project manager:
Gerald W. Longanecker
Project scientist:
Albert Boggess
Objectives:
To conduct spectral distribution
studies of celestial ultraviolet sources (see below); ground
observatories were established at GSFC and at Vallofranca
del Castillo.
Experiments: satellite functioned as
an observatory for hundreds of users (45-cm Ritchey chretien
telescope); scientific goals included:
.
to obtain high resolution spectra of
stars
to study gas streams
to observe faint stars, galaxies, and
quasars
to observe the spectra of planets and
comets
to make repeated observations which
show variable spectra
to define more precisely the
modifications of starlight caused by interstellar dust and
gas
Results:
Highly successful; still in use in
1982.
Reference: MOR S-868-78-01, Jan. 18, 1978.