Space & Earth Science
NORAD ID: 36395
Int'l Code: 2010-005A
Perigee: 35,777.4 km
Apogee: 35,797.9 km
Inclination: 28.1 °
Period: 1,436.1 minutes
Semi major axis: 42165 km
Launch date: February 11, 2010
Source: United States (US)
Comments: SDO (The Solar Dynamics Observatory) is a NASA mission which will observe the Sun for over five years. The satellite will be stationed in an unusual inclined geosynchronous orbit, and SDO will appear to hover in a figure-eight pattern oscillating about 28.5 degrees on both sides of the equator. The probe will remain in constant view over the White Sands ground station throughout its mission. Officials selected the orbit to maximize SDO's data return and minimize the time the satellite will spend in Earth's shadow, when the sun would be blocked from view. The satellite's three instruments will take rapid-fire images of the sun, peer into the solar interior and measure its extreme ultraviolet radiation output. SDO will return gargantuan volumes of data during its mission, beaming the information to dedicated antennas at White Sands, N.M. The sensors will send up to 150 million bits of data per second, almost 50 times more science data than any other mission in NASA history.
Two Line Element Set (TLE):
1 36395U 10005A 15061.73017022 -.00000093 00000-0 00000+0 0 9999
2 36395 028.0635 155.6880 0002427 193.1218 331.7939 01.00268165 18682
Source: AFSPC
NASA's NSSDC Master Catalog entry for SDO
