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The 2015 Earth-Orbiting Heliophysics Fleet
Movie showing the heliosphysics missions from near Earth orbit out to the orbit of the Moon.
This video is also available on our YouTube channel.
There've been a few changes since the 2013 Earth-Orbiting Heliophysics Fleet. As of Spring of 2015, here's a tour of the NASA Near-Earth Heliophysics fleet, covering the space from near-Earth orbit out to the orbit of the Moon.
The satellite orbits are color coded for their observing program:
Magenta: TIM (Thermosphere, Ionosphere, Mesosphere) observations Yellow: solar observations and imagery Cyan: Geospace and magnetosphere Violet: Heliospheric observations
Near-Earth Fleet:
- Hinode: Observes the Sun in multiple wavelengths up to x-rays. SVS page
- RHESSI : Observes the Sun in x-rays and gamma-rays. SVS page
- TIMED: Studies the upper layers (40-110 miles up) of the Earth's atmosphere.
- CINDI: Measures interactions of neutral and charged particles in the ionosphere.
- SORCE: Monitors solar intensity across a broad range of the electromagnetic spectrum.
- AIM: Images and measures noctilucent clouds. SVS page
- Van Allen Probes: Two probes moving along the same orbit designed to study the impact of space weather on Earth's radiation belts. SVS page
- TWINS: Two Wide-Angle Imaging Neutral-Atom Spectrometers (TWINS) are two probes observing the Earth with neutral atom imagers.
- IRIS: Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph is designed to take high-resolution spectra and images of the region between the solar photosphere and solar atmosphere.
Geosynchronous Fleet:
- SDO: Solar Dynamics Observatory keeps the Sun under continuous observation at 16 megapixel resolution.
Geospace Fleet:
- Geotail: Conducts measurements of electrons and ions in the Earth's magnetotail.
- Magnetospheric Multi-scale (MMS): This is a group of four satellites which fly in formation to measure how particles and fields in the magnetosphere vary in space and time. SVS page
- THEMIS: This is a fleet of three satellites to study how magnetospheric instabilities produce substorms. Two of the original five satellites were moved into lunar orbit to become ARTEMIS.SVS page
- IBEX: The Interstellar Boundary Explorer measures the flux of neutral atoms from the heliopause.
Lunar Orbiting Fleet:
- ARTEMIS: Two of the THEMIS satellites were moved into lunar orbit to study the interaction of the Earth's magnetosphere with the Moon.
Major changes with earlier versions:
- MMS added
- GOES satellites removed
- Cluster satellites removed
- Camera moves around the night-side of Earth .
Movie showing the heliosphysics missions from near Earth orbit out to the orbit of the Moon. This version shows the time of the orbit positions.
![Close-up view of the near-Earth heliophysics satellites. Close-up view of the near-Earth heliophysics satellites.](/static/svs/images/no_preview_web_black.png)
Close-up view of the near-Earth heliophysics satellites.
![Pulling out from Earth for a wider view... Pulling out from Earth for a wider view...](/static/svs/images/no_preview_web_black.png)
Pulling out from Earth for a wider view...
![Moving out further, we see SDO as we pass geosynchronous orbit. Moving out further, we see SDO as we pass geosynchronous orbit.](/static/svs/images/no_preview_web_black.png)
Moving out further, we see SDO as we pass geosynchronous orbit.
![A view including TWINS, the Van Allen Probes, and SDO. A view including TWINS, the Van Allen Probes, and SDO.](/static/svs/images/no_preview_web_black.png)
A view including TWINS, the Van Allen Probes, and SDO.
![The early phase of the MMS mission comes into view. The early phase of the MMS mission comes into view.](/static/svs/images/no_preview_web_black.png)
The early phase of the MMS mission comes into view.
![Here we see many of the missions occupy the region inside Earth's magnetosphere. Here we see many of the missions occupy the region inside Earth's magnetosphere.](/static/svs/images/no_preview_web_black.png)
Here we see many of the missions occupy the region inside Earth's magnetosphere.
![Passing the orbit of the Moon, we see the ARTEMIS spacecraft in lunar orbit. Passing the orbit of the Moon, we see the ARTEMIS spacecraft in lunar orbit.](/static/svs/images/no_preview_web_black.png)
Passing the orbit of the Moon, we see the ARTEMIS spacecraft in lunar orbit.
![All done! All done!](/static/svs/images/no_preview_web_black.png)
All done!
![High-resolution 5x3 Hyperwall version High-resolution 5x3 Hyperwall version](/static/svs/images/no_preview_web_black.png)
High-resolution 5x3 Hyperwall version
Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio, the NASA/Goddard Satellite Situation Center, and Space Track.
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Animator
- Tom Bridgman (Global Science and Technology, Inc.)
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Producers
- Scott Wiessinger (USRA)
- Genna Duberstein (USRA)
Release date
This page was originally published on Wednesday, June 10, 2015.
This page was last updated on Monday, July 15, 2024 at 12:03 AM EDT.
Missions
This visualization is related to the following missions:Series
This visualization can be found in the following series:Datasets used in this visualization
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SSCweb ephemerides (SSCweb)
ID: 538Satellite ephemerides
This dataset can be found at: http://sscweb.gsfc.nasa.gov
See all pages that use this dataset -
Space-Track TLE (Space-Track Two-Line Elements)
ID: 753Satellite ephemerides
This dataset can be found at: http://Space-Track.org
See all pages that use this dataset
Note: While we identify the data sets used in these visualizations, we do not store any further details, nor the data sets themselves on our site.