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ORFEUS-SPAS I

NSSDC ID: 1993-058C

Description

The purpose of the ORFEUS-SPAS I mission was to conduct investigations of celestial sources in the far and extreme ultraviolet spectral range. Specific objects targeted included the atmospheres of hot stars and the coronae of cool stars. Narrow interstellar absorption lines were studied to further understanding of the interstellar medium (ISM). ORFEUS-SPAS I was the first of a series of planned joint DARA (German Space Agency) /NASA missions. The name arises from the reusable Astro-Shuttle Pallet Satellite (Astro-SPAS), and the Orbiting Retrievable Far and Extreme Ultraviolet Spectrometers (ORFEUS) Telescope carried on Astro-SPAS.

ORFEUS-SPAS was a free-flying platform designed to be deployed and retrieved from the space shuttle. The Astro-SPAS carrier was powered by batteries, and data from the instruments were stored on tape. Absolute pointing was accurate to within a few arc seconds. ORFEUS-SPAS is 4.5m length and has a 2.5m width base. Operation of ORFEUS-SPAS was approximately 40km from the shuttle.

ORFEUS-SPAS carried three spectrometers operating over the wavelength range 400 - 1250 Angstroms. The Tubingen Ultraviolet Echelle Spectrometer (TUES) and the Berkeley Extreme and Far-UV Spectrometer (BEFS) were housed on the primary instrument - the ORFEUS 1-m telescope. The Interstellar Medium Absorption Profile Spectrograph (IMAPS) was operated independently from ORFEUS.

The ORFEUS-SPAS I mission was flown in September 1993.

Alternate Names

  • SPAS
  • STS 51/ORFEUS
  • ORFEUS
  • STS 51/SPAS
  • 22798

Facts in Brief

Launch Date: 1993-09-12
Launch Vehicle: Shuttle
Launch Site: Cape Canaveral, United States
Mass: 3500.0 kg

Funding Agencies

  • NASA-Office of Space Science Applications (United States)
  • German Space Agency (Federal Republic of Germany)

Discipline

  • Astronomy

Additional Information

Experiments on ORFEUS-SPAS I

Data collections from ORFEUS-SPAS I

Questions or comments about this spacecraft can be directed to: Coordinated Request and User Support Office.

 

Personnel

Name Role Original Affiliation E-mail
Dr. Immo Appenzeller Mission Scientist Landessternwarte i.appenzeller@lsw.uni-heidelberg.de
Dr. D.-R. Schmitt Project Engineer Deutsche Forschungsenstalt fuer Luft-und Raumfahrt  
Dr. C. Stuart Bowyer Mission Principal Investigator University of California, Berkeley bowyer@ssl.berkeley.edu
Dr. Edward B. Jenkins Mission Principal Investigator Princeton University ebj@astro.princeton.edu
Dr. Michael Grewing Mission Principal Investigator Universitat Tubingen  
Mr. R. Wayne Richie Project Manager NASA Headquarters  
Dr. Robert N. Stachnik Project Scientist NASA Headquarters  
Dr. Gerhard Kramer Project Scientist Universitat Tubingen  
Dr. Klaus Steinberg Project Manager Deutsche Agentur fur Ramfahrt-Angelegenheiten klaus.steinberg@dlr.de
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