SDO

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SDO is classified as:

Space & Earth Science

NORAD ID: 36395

Int'l Code: 2010-005A

Perigee: 35,789.8 km

Apogee: 35,795.1 km

Inclination: 30.1 °

Period: 1,436.0 minutes

Semi major axis: 42163 km

RCS: 5.0119 m² (large)

Launch date: February 11, 2010
Source: United States (US)
Launch site: AIR FORCE EASTERN TEST RANGE (AFETR)

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.