Galaxies - Science Mission Directorate

Galaxies Missions

The exploration into the origins of our solar system ... of our very existence, requires the development of complex space missions.

Report of the 2008 Senior Review of the Astrophysics Division Operating Missions

*Sort missions by clicking Launch Date, A-Z, or PHASE column headers.

Launch Date	A-Z	Phase
19901202 December 02, 1990	Astro Observatory (ASTRO 1 & 2) The "Astro Observatory" was developed as a system of telescopes that could fly multiple times on the space shuttle....	Past
19910405 April 05, 1991	CGRO Compton Gamma Ray Observatory mission studied very energetic celestial phenomena: solar flares, cosmic gamma-ray bursts, pulsars, nova and supernova explosions, accreting...	Past
19990724 July 23, 1999	Chandra Chandra explores the hot turbulent regions in space with images 25 times sharper than previous x-ray pictures. Chandra is performing detailed studies of black holes,...	Operating
	Constellation-X Constellation-X has been designed to perform X-ray spectroscopy with unprecedented sensitivity and spectral resolution, to determine the flow of gas in accretion disks around...	Under Study
19930113 January 13, 1993	DXS The primary objective of the Diffuse X-ray Spectrometer (DXS) payload was to obtain measurements on the diffuse soft X-ray background radiation in the Milky Way Galaxy. DXS...	Past
19990625 June 24, 1999	FUSE Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) studies the far ultraviolet portion of the electromagnetic spectrum from high orbit. This range provides an opportunity to...	Past
20030429 April 28, 2003	GALEX Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX)  is exploring the origin and evolution of galaxies and the origins of stars and heavy elements, and is also conducting an all-sky...	Operating
19970212 February 12, 1997	HALCA HALCA is a spacecraft with a radio telescope in orbit to co-observe astronomical objects with radio telescopes on Earth. The project synthesizes a radio telescope as large as...	Past
20081101 October 31, 2008	Herschel The Herschel Space Observatory is a space-based telescope that will study the Universe by the light of the far-infrared and submillimeter portions of the spectrum. It is...	Development
20001009 20:00:00 GMT-4 October 09, 2000	HETE-2 The High Energy Transient Explorer is a small scientific satellite designed to detect and localize gamma-ray bursts. ...	Past
19900425 April 24, 1990	Hubble Space Telescope Hubble Space Telescope (HST), an ultraviolet, visible and infrared orbiting telescope, has expanded our understanding of star birth, star death, and galaxy evolution, and has...	Operating
20021018 October 17, 2002	INTEGRAL International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory (INTEGRAL) seeks to unravel the secrets of the highest-energy - and therefore the most violent - phenomena in the Universe....	Operating
19780126 January 26, 1978	IUE The International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) satellite launched in 1978 and was a unique space observatory in that it was operated like a ground-based observatory....	Past
20130701 June 30, 2013	JWST James Webb Space Telescope (formerly the Next Generation Space Telescope) is designed for observations in the far visible to the mid infrared part of the spectrum. JWST will...	Development
19900601 June 01, 1990	ROSAT The ROentgen SATellite, was an X-ray observatory developed through a cooperative program between the Germany, the United States, and the United...	Past
	SIM SIM PlanetQuest (formerly called Space Interferometry Mission), will determine the positions of stars and planets several hundred times more accurately than any previous...	Under Study
20090602 June 01, 2009	SOFIA SOFIA is an airborne observatory that will study the universe in the infrared spectrum. This mission is part of SMD's Cosmic Origins...	Development
20030826 August 25, 2003	Spitzer Spitzer Space Telescope (formerly known as SIRTF) conducts infrared astronomy from space. From an unusual heliocentric orbit designed to keep its sensitive instruments away...	Operating
20041121 November 20, 2004	Swift Swift Gamma Ray Burst Explorer is a three-telescope space observatory for studying the position, brightness, and physical properties of gamma ray bursts. Although gamma ray...	Operating
	TPF Terrestrial Planet Finder observatories will study the particular characteristics of many planets outside our solar system: from their formation and development in disks of...	Under Study
19920626 June 26, 1992	TSS The Tethered Satellite System (TSS) consists of a satellite, a conducting tether, and a tether deployment/retrieval system to be flown on the Space...	Past
19990304 March 04, 1999	WIRE The Wide-field Infrared Explorer (WIRE) is a Small Explorer Mission designed to study the evolution of starburst galaxies and search for distant ultra-luminous...	Past
20091103 November 02, 2009	WISE WISE is a NASA-funded scientific research project that will provide a vast storehouse of knowledge about the solar system, the Milky Way, and the Universe. Among the objects...	Development
19991211 December 10, 1999	XMM-Newton XMM-Newton is an X-ray astrophysics observatory that enables astronomers to conduct sensitive X-ray spectroscopic observations of a wide variety of cosmic sources. This...	Operating

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