Solar Maximum Mission: Facts, Discussion Forum, and Encyclopedia Article

All Topics

Solar Maximum Mission

	Email		Print
	Bookmark		Link

	Solar Maximum Mission
	Home Discussion
	Topics Solar Maximum Mission Topic Home The Solar Maximum Mission satelliteSatellite A satellite is any object that orbits another object .... (or SolarMax) was designed to investigate solar phenomenon, particularly solar flares. It was launched on February 14, 1980. Whilst not unique in this endeavour, the SMM was notable in that its useful life compared with similar spacecraftSpacecraft A spacecraft is a vehicle designed to operate beyond the surface of the Earth in outer space.... was significantly increased by the direct intervention of a manned space mission. In 1984 the Space Shuttle ChallengerSpace Shuttle Challenger Space Shuttle Challenger was NASA's second Space Shuttle orbiter to be put into service, after Columbia.... intercepted it, maneuvering the SMM into the shuttle's payload bay for maintenance and repairs. SMM has been fitted with a shuttle "grapple fixture" so that the shuttle's robot arm could grab it in anticipation of possible repairs. The mission is depicted in the 1985 IMAXIMAX IMAX is a film format created by Canadian IMAX Corporation, that has the capacity to display images of far greater size and ... movie The Dream Is AliveThe Dream Is Alive *The Dream is Alive* is an IMAX movie, released in June 1985, about NASA's Space Shuttle program.... . Significantly, the SMM's ACRIM instrument package showed that, contrary to expectations, the Sun is actually brighter during the sunspotSunspot A sunspot is a region on the Sun's surface that is marked by a lower temperature than its surroundings and intense magnetic... cycle maximum (when the greatest number of dark 'sunspots' appear). This is because sunspots are surrounded by bright features called faculae, which more than cancel the darkening effect of the sunspot. The Solar Maximum Mission ended on December 2 1989 when the spacecraft re-entered the atmosphereAtmospheric reentry Atmospheric reentry is the process by which vehicles that are outside the atmosphere of a planet can enter that atmosphere a... and burned up. The major scientific findings from SMM are presented in several review articles in the Monograph edited by Strong et al. (1999). Strong, Keith T.; Saba, Julia L. R.; Haisch, Bernhard M.; Schmelz, Joan T. (1999) The many faces of the sun : a summary of the results from NASA's Solar Maximum Mission. Springer See also Solar and Heliospheric ObservatorySolar and Heliospheric Observatory The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory is a spacecraft that was launched on 2 December 1995 to study the sun, and began norm... External links , SMM , SMM , SMM An educational resource for teachers and students about the Sun and its effect on the Earth