Gamma (satellite)

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Gamma
RKA
COSPAR ID1990-058A Edit this at Wikidata
SATCAT no.20683
Mission duration2 years
Spacecraft properties
BusSoyuz
Launch mass7,350 kg (16,200 lb)[1]
Start of mission
Launch dateJuly 11, 1990 (1990-07-11)
Rocket
Tyuratam
End of mission
Decay dateFebruary 28, 1992 (1992-02-28)
Orbital parameters
Eccentricity0.00326
Perigee altitude190 km [2]
Apogee altitude233 km [2]
Inclination51.6°
Period88.45  min
Main
WavelengthsGamma ray
Instruments
Gamma-1 telescope (50 
keV to 5 MeV)[3]
Pulsar X-2 telescope (2–25 keV)[3]
 

Gamma was a

inclination of 51.6 degrees. It lasted for around 2 years. On board the mission were three telescopes, all of which could be pointed at the same source. The project was a joint Soviet-French project.[3]

Background

The Gamma-1 telescope was the main telescope. It consisted of 2

arcminutes by tracking stars up to an apparent magnitude of 5 within its 6 by 6 degree field of view. However, due to the failure of power to a spark chamber, for most of the mission the resolution was around 10 degrees.[3]

The telescope was conceived in 1965, as part of the Soviet Cloud Space Station, which evolved into the Multi-module Orbital Complex (MOK).[4] When work on Gamma finally began in 1972, it was intended to create a Gamma observatory, the first space station module for MOK, the first modular space station in the Salyut programme.[5] For this, it was designed to add the scientific instruments of the observatory to a spacecraft derived from the

Soyuz spacecraft
derivate – and that this spacecraft would dock to a MOK space station. However, in 1974, at the time it became a joint venture with France, the MOK space station project was canceled, and in February 1976, the Soviet space program was reconfigured. When on 16 February 1979 production of the telescope was authorized, the plans for the Soviet space station modules had evolved to use the
TKS spacecraft instead, with the Kvant-1 Roentgen observatory eventually becoming the first such module for Mir
– as a result of these changes the Gamma observatory was redesigned as the free flying Gamma satellite. At that time the telescope was authorized in 1979, it was planned to be launched in 1984, but the actual launch was delayed until 1990.

Operation

The Disk-M telescope operated in the energy range 20 

keV – 5 MeV. It consisted of Sodium iodide scintillation crystals, and had an angular resolution of 25 arcminutes. However, it stopped working shortly after the mission was launched.[3]

Finally, the Pulsar X-2 telescope had 30 arcminute resolution and a 10 deg x 10 deg field of view, and operated in the energy range 2–25 keV.[3]

Observations included studies of the

solar activity.[3]

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gamma (satellite).
  1. ^ Darling, David. "Gamma (Soviet orbiting telescope)". www.daviddarling.info. Retrieved 2018-12-30.
  2. ^ a b c "NASA – NSSDCA – Spacecraft – Trajectory Details". nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov. NASA. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h "The Gamma Satellite". NASA. Retrieved 2008-03-01.
  4. ^ "Gamma". Astronautix.com. Archived from the original on 2008-07-06. Retrieved 2008-03-02.
  5. ^ Portree, David (March 1995). "Mir Hardware Heritage" (PDF). NASA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 September 2009. Retrieved 24 August 2012.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gamma_(satellite)&oldid=1218332272"