TRACE

TRACE ( Transition Region And Coronal Explorer, English for " Transitional Region and Corona Explorer " ) is a space telescope that was designed specifically for the study of the solar corona. TRACE is a satellite of the Small Explorer program of NASA and as such bears the name SMEX 4 or Explorer 73

The only scientific instrument on board of the satellite is a 30 - cm - Cassegrain telescope UV. His task was to follow the development of magnetic field structures from the solar interior into the corona, the study of the heating mechanisms of the outer solar atmosphere and to determine the cause of solar flares and mass ejections.

The satellite was (local time: April 1 ) on 2 April 1998 started with an airborne Pegasus rocket. The carrier aircraft of the type L -1011 was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California and threw the rocket in the Point Arguello Western Air Drop zone over the Pacific from. TRACE was launched by the Pegasus rocket into a sun-synchronous orbit. This prevents the satellite passes through the Earth's shadow, making continuous measurements of the sun are possible. He served primarily to supplement the research SOHO satellite because he could each represent a portion of the solar surface with a much higher resolution than SOHO. On 22 June 2010, the mission of TRACE has ended.

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