| definition
| - The Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) is an Explorer mission that is
being managed by the Office of Space Science Mission and Payload
Development Division of the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA). The primary purpose of ACE is to determine and
compare the isotopic and elemental composition of several distinct
samples of matter, including the solar corona, the interplanetary
medium, the local interstellar medium, and Galactic matter.
The spacecraft is 1.6 meters across and 1 meter high, not including
the four solar arrays and the magnetometer booms attached to two of
the solar panels. It will weigh 785 kg, which includes 189 kg of
hydrazine fuel for orbit insertion and maintenance. The solar arrays
will generate about 500 watts of power at the beginning of life. The
spacecraft will spin at 5 rpm, with the spin axis generally pointed
along the Earth-sun line and most of the scientific instruments on the
top (sunward) deck. The instruments that are carried on ACE are as follows:
Cosmic Ray Isotope Spectrometer (CRIS), Electon,Proton,and Alpha Monitor
(EPAM), Magnetometer (MAG), Solar Energetic Particle Ionic Charge Analyzer
(SEPICA), Solar Isotope Spectrometer (SIS), Solar Wind Electon, Proton, and
Alpha Monitor (SWEPAM), Solar Wind Ionic Charge Spectrometer (SWICS),
Solar Wind Ion Mass Spectrometer (SWIMS), and Ultra Low Energy Isotope
Spectrometer (ULEIS).
ACE launched on a McDonnell-Douglas Delta II 7920 launch vehicle on
August 25, 1997 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
In order to get away from the effects of the Earth's magnetic field,
the ACE spacecraft has travelled almost a million miles (1.5 million
km) from the Earth to the Earth-sun libration point (L1). By orbiting
the L1 point, ACE will stay in a relatively constant position with
respect to the Earth as the Earth revolves around the sun.
Group: Platform_Details
Entry_ID: ACE
Group: Platform_Identification
Platform_Category: Solar/Space Observation Satellites
Short_Name: ACE
Long_Name: Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE)
End_Group
Group: Synonymous_Platform_Names
Short_Name: Explorer 71
Short_Name: 1997-045A
Short_Name: 24912
End_Group
Group: Platform_Associated_Instruments
Short_Name: MAG
Short_Name: SWICS
Short_Name: SEPICA
Short_Name: SIS
Short_Name: SWEPAM
Short_Name: EPAM
Short_Name: SWIMS
Short_Name: ULEIS
Short_Name: CRIS
End_Group
Group: Orbit
Orbit_Altitude: 1.5 million km
Orbit_Inclination: 28.7 degrees
Perigee: 179 km
Apogee: 1256768 km
Orbit_Type: LPO > L1 > Lissajous Orbit > Halo Orbit
End_Group
Creation_Date: 2008-01-14
Online_Resource: http://www.srl.caltech.edu/ACE/
Online_Resource: http://sd-www.jhuapl.edu/ACE/ACE_FactSheet.html
Sample_Image: http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/image/spacecraft/ace1.jpg
Group: Platform_Logistics
Launch_Date: 1997-08-25
Launch_Site: Cape Canaveral/Kennedy Space Center, USA
Primary_Sponsor: NASA
Primary_Sponsor: California Institute of Technology
End_Group
End_Group (en)
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