Sun  ID: 3969

The 2012 Earth-Orbiting Heliophysics Fleet

Visualizations by Tom Bridgman Released on September 20, 2012
There is a newer version of this story located here: https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4127
Since Sentinels of the Heliosphere in 2008, there have been a few new missions, and a few missions have been shut down. As of Fall of 2012, 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.
Revision (November 9, 2012): The RBSP mission has been renamed the Van Allen Probes. NASA Press Release.

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.
  • FAST: Measures particles and fields in regions where aurora form.
  • 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
  • RBSP: (Renamed the Van Allen Probes) Designed to study the impact of space weather on Earth's radiation belts. SVS page

Geosynchronous Fleet:

  • SDO: Solar Dynamics Observatory keeps the Sun under continuous observation at 16 megapixel resolution.
  • GOES: The newest GOES satellites include a solar X-ray imager operated by NOAA.

Geospace Fleet:

  • Geotail: Conducts measurements of electrons and ions in the Earth's magnetotail.
  • Cluster: 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.

Note: A number of near-Earth missions had their orbits generated from Two-Line orbital elements valid in July 2012. Orbit perturbations since then may result in significant deviation from the actual satellite position for the time frame of this visualization.
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Movie showing the heliosphysics missions from near Earth orbit out to the orbit of the Moon.
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Close-up view of the near-Earth heliophysics satellites.
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Further out, the three remaining THEMIS satellites orbit.
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Cluster flies in formation.
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At geostationary orbit, GOES and SDO keep watch on the Sun.
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Out beyond the magnetosphere, is IBEX.
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A far view of the Earth-orbiting heliophysics satellites.
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ARTEMIS satellites orbit the Moon.
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Final view.
 

Newer Version

The 2013 Earth-Orbiting Heliophysics Fleet

Related

Van Allen Probes Find Storage Ring in Earth's Outer Radiation Belt

Visualization Credits

Tom Bridgman (Global Science and Technology, Inc.): Lead Animator
Scott Wiessinger (USRA): Producer
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio

Short URL to share this page:
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3969

Missions:
AIM
THEMIS and ARTEMIS
IBEX
Radiation Belt Storm Probes/Van Allen Probes - RBSP
SDO
THEMIS
Van Allen Probes

Data Used:
Space-Track Two-Line Elements also referred to as: Space-Track TLE
Ephemeris - NORAD - AIM, C/NOFS, FAST, TIMED, GOES, Hinode, RHESSI, SORCE: 2012-07-18
Satellite ephemerides
view all stories where this data set is used
Satellite ToolKit Ephemeris also referred to as: STK Ephemeris
Ephemeris - STK - SDO: 2012-07-31 to 2013-02-28
Satellite ephemerides
view all stories where this data set is used
SPICE Ephemerides also referred to as: SPICE Ephemerides
Ephemeris - NASA/JPL - IBEX: 2012-07-31 to 2012-12-31
Satellite and planetary ephemerides
view all stories where this data set is used
SSCweb also referred to as: SSCweb ephemerides
Ephemeris - NASA/GSFC Space Physics Data Facility - Geotail, Cluster, THEMIS, ARTEMIS, RBSP: 2012-07-31 to 2012-12-31
Satellite ephemerides
view all stories where this data set is used
JPL DE421 also referred to as: DE421
Ephemeris - NASA/JPL - 2012-08-01 to 2012-12-31
Planetary ephemerides
view all stories where this data set is used
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.

This item is part of these series:
NASM2012
Heliophysics Fleet

Keywords:
SVS >> Earth
SVS >> HDTV
SVS >> Moon
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Sun-earth Interactions
GCMD >> Location >> Magnetopause
SVS >> Space Weather
SVS >> Hyperwall
SVS >> THEMIS
SVS >> AIM
SVS >> SDO
SVS >> IBEX
SVS >> Solar Dynamics Observatory
SVS >> GOES
SVS >> Heliophysics
SVS >> Satellite Orbit
NASA Science >> Sun
SVS >> RBSP
SVS >> Van Allen Probes
SVS >> Presentation

GCMD keywords can be found on the Internet with the following citation: Olsen, L.M., G. Major, K. Shein, J. Scialdone, S. Ritz, T. Stevens, M. Morahan, A. Aleman, R. Vogel, S. Leicester, H. Weir, M. Meaux, S. Grebas, C.Solomon, M. Holland, T. Northcutt, R. A. Restrepo, R. Bilodeau, 2013. NASA/Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords. Version 8.0.0.0.0