Orbiting Solar Observatory (OSO)
Spacecraft Brief Description The objectives of the OSO satellite series were to perform solar physics experiments above the atmosphere during a complete solar cycle and to map the entire celestial sphere for direction and intensity of UV light and X-ray and gamma radiation. The OSO 7 platform consisted of a sail section, which pointed two experiments continually toward the sun, and a wheel section, which spun about an axis perpendicular to the pointing direction of the sail and carried four experiments. Attitude adjustment was performed by gas jets and a magnetic torquing coil. A pointing control permitted the pointed experiments to scan the region of the solar disk in a 60- by 60-arc-min raster pattern. In addition, the pointed section could be commanded to select and scan any 7.5- by 5-arc-min region near the solar disk. Data were simultaneously recorded on tape and transmitted by PCM/PM telemetry. A command system provided for at least 155 ground-based commands. Only real-time data have been received since May 1973, when the second tape recorder failed. The spacecraft reentered the earth's atmosphere July 9, 1974. Auxiliary Information Launch Date and Time : 1971-09-29 09:50:00 Epoch Date and Time : 1971-09-30 Orbit Type : Geocentric Apogee(km) : 572. Perigee(km) : 321. Inclination : 33.1 Date of last update : 2003-01-28 Additional information available at "http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/oso7/oso7.html" Group: Platform_Details Entry_ID: OSO-7 Group: Platform_Identification Platform_Category: Solar/Space Observation Satellites Platform_Series_or_Entity: OSO (Orbiting Solar Observatory) Short_Name: OSO-7 Long_Name: Orbiting Solar Observatory-7 End_Group Group: Synonymous_Platform_Names Short_Name: OSO-7 End_Group Group: Platform_Associated_Instruments Short_Name: GAMMA RADIATION DETECTOR End_Group Group: Orbit Orbit_Inclination: 33.1 degrees Perigee: 321 km Apogee: 572 km End_Group Creation_Date: 2007-12-14 Online_Resource: http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/oso7/oso7.html Sample_Image: http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/Images/oso/oso7_flight.gif Group: Platform_Logistics Launch_Date: 1971-09-29 Primary_Sponsor: NASA End_Group End_Group
OSO-7