Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph

Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph
Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (Explorer 94) satellite
NamesExplorer 94
IRIS
SMEX-12
Mission typeHeliophysics
OperatorNASA / Lockheed Martin
COSPAR ID2013-033A Edit this at Wikidata
SATCAT no.39197
Mission duration2 years (planned)
10 years, 11 months, 3 days (in progress)
Spacecraft properties
SpacecraftExplorer XCIV
Spacecraft typeInterface Region Imaging Spectrograph
BusIRIS
ManufacturerLockheed Martin
Launch mass200 kg (440 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date28 June 2013, 02:27:46 UTC
RocketPegasus-XL (F42)
Launch siteVandenberg, Stargazer
ContractorOrbital Sciences Corporation
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric orbit
RegimeSun-synchronous orbit
Perigee altitude623 km (387 mi)
Apogee altitude665 km (413 mi)
Inclination97.90°
Period97.47 minutes
Instruments
Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS)
Explorer program
← NuSTAR (Explorer 93)
GEMS (Explorer) →
 

Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS),[1] also called Explorer 94 and SMEX-12,[2] is a NASA solar observation satellite. The mission was funded through the Small Explorer program to investigate the physical conditions of the solar limb, particularly the interface region made up of the chromosphere and transition region. The spacecraft consists of a satellite bus and spectrometer built by the Lockheed Martin Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory (LMSAL), and a telescope provided by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO). IRIS is operated by LMSAL and NASA's Ames Research Center.

The satellite's instrument is a high-frame-rate ultraviolet imaging spectrometer, providing one image per second at 0.3 arcsecond angular resolution and sub-ångström spectral resolution.

NASA announced, on 19 June 2009, that IRIS was selected from six Small Explorer mission candidates for further study,[3] along with the Gravity and Extreme Magnetism (GEMS) space observatory.[4]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Display was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "NASA's Explorer Program Satellites". NASA. 22 July 2019. Retrieved 12 December 2021. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference nasa20080529 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference nasa20090619 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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