29479 - HINODE/SOLAR-B

SOLAR-B is an ISAS mission with international partners, a follow-on to the highly successful Japan/US/UK YOHKOH (SOLAR-A) collaboration. The mission consists of a coordinated set of optical, EUV, and X-ray instruments that will apply a systems approach to the interaction between the Sun's magnetic field and its high temperature, ionized atmosphere. The result will be an improved understanding of the mechanisms which give rise to solar magnetic variability and how this variability modulates the total solar output and creates the driving force behind space weather.

SOLAR-B will provide, for the first time, quantitative measurements of the full vector magnetic field on small enough scales to resolve elemental flux tubes. The field of view and sensitivity allow changes in the magnetic energy to be related to both steady-state (coronal heating) and transient changes (flares, coronal mass ejections) in the solar atmosphere.

SOLAR-B is planned to operate for at least three years. It will be placed in a sun-synchronous orbit about the Earth. This will keep the instruments in nearly continous sunlight, with no day/night cycling for nine months each year.

The initial orbital parameters were period 94.54 min, apogee 675 km, perigee 318 km, and inclination 98.3 deg.

Alternate Names

Solar-B

Facts in Brief

Launch Date: 2006-09-22
Launch Vehicle: ISAS MV
Launch Site: Uchinoura Space Center, Japan
Mass: 700.0 kg
Nominal Power: 500.0 W