Granat

For other uses, see Granat (disambiguation).
International Astrophysical Observatory
picture credit: NASA
NamesGranat
Astron 2
Mission typeAstronomy
OperatorSoviet space program
Roscosmos
COSPAR ID1989-096A Edit this at Wikidata
SATCAT no.20352
Websitehea.iki.rssi.ru
Mission duration8 years, 11 months and 26 days
Spacecraft properties
Bus4MV
ManufacturerNPO Lavochkin[1]
Launch mass~4,400 kg (9,700 lb)
Payload mass~2,300 kg (5,100 lb)
Dimensions4.0 × 2.5 m (13.1 × 8.2 ft)
Power400 W
Start of mission
Launch date20:20:00, December 1, 1989 (UTC) (1989-12-01T20:20:00Z)[2]
RocketProton-K/D-1[3]
Launch siteBaikonur 200/40
End of mission
DisposalDeorbited
Last contact27 November 1998
Decay dateMay 25, 1999 (1999-05-25)[2]
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric[1]
RegimeHighly elliptical
Eccentricity0.92193
Perigee altitude1,760 kilometres (1,090 mi)[4]
Apogee altitude202,480 kilometres (125,820 mi)
Inclination51.9 degrees
Period5,880 minutes
Epoch01 December 1989
Main telescope
NameSIGMA
TypeCoded mask
Diameter1.2 metres (3.9 ft)
Focal length2.5 metres (8.2 ft)
Collecting area800 cm2 (120 sq in)
WavelengthsX-ray to γ-ray, 1–620 pm (2 keV – 1.3 MeV)
Instruments
SIGMA X-ray/gamma-ray telescope[5]
ART-P X-ray telescope[6]
ART-S X-ray spectrometer[7]
PHEBUS Gamma-burst detector[8]
WATCH All-sky monitor[7]
KONUS GRB experiment[7]
TOURNESOL GRB experiment[7]

The International Astrophysical Observatory "GRANAT" (usually known as Granat; Russian: Гранат, lit. pomegranate), was a Soviet (later Russian) space observatory developed in collaboration with France, Denmark and Bulgaria. It was launched on 1 December 1989 aboard a Proton rocket and placed in a highly eccentric four-day orbit, of which three were devoted to observations. It operated for almost nine years.

In September 1994, after nearly five years of directed observations, the gas supply for its attitude control was exhausted and the observatory was placed in a non-directed survey mode. Transmissions finally ceased on 27 November 1998.[3]

With seven different instruments on board, Granat was designed to observe the universe at energies ranging from X-ray to gamma ray. Its main instrument, SIGMA, was capable of imaging both hard X-ray and soft gamma-ray sources. The PHEBUS instrument was meant to study gamma-ray bursts and other transient X-Ray sources. Other experiments such as ART-P were intended to image X-Ray sources in the 35 to 100 keV range. One instrument, WATCH, was designed to monitor the sky continuously and alert the other instruments to new or interesting X-Ray sources. The ART-S spectrometer covered the X-ray energy range while the KONUS-B and TOURNESOL experiments covered both the X-ray and gamma ray spectrum.

  1. ^ a b "Granat X-ray and Gamma-ray Observatory". The Federation of American Scientists. Archived from the original on 2007-02-06. Retrieved 2007-12-06.
  2. ^ a b "1999 Reentries" (PDF). The Aerospace Corporation, Center for Orbital and Reentry Debris Studies. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2005-01-22. Retrieved 2007-12-06.
  3. ^ a b "GRANAT". NASA HEASARC. Retrieved 2007-12-05.
  4. ^ (in Russian) N.G. Kuleshova, I.D. Tserenin, A.I. Sheikhet, from NPO Lavochkin, Orbital Astrophysical Observatory "Granat": Problems of Control Archived 2007-10-31 at the Wayback Machine, Zemlya i Vselennaya, 1994, no. 2. Only four rows from a table of twenty used here.
  5. ^ Mandrou P, Jourdain E. et al. Overview of two-year observations with SIGMA on board GRANAT, A&A Supplement Series, 1993, no. 97.
  6. ^ Molkov, S.V., Grebenev, S.A., Pavlinsky, M.N., Sunyaev. "GRANAT/ART-P OBSERVATIONS OF GX3+1: TYPE I X-RAY BURST AND PERSISTENT EMISSION", Mar 1999. 4pp. arXiv e-Print (astro-ph/9903089v1).
  7. ^ a b c d "The Granat Satellite". NASA HEASARC Imagine the Universe!. Archived from the original on 2014-05-14. Retrieved 2007-12-05.
  8. ^ "International Astrophysical Observatory "GRANAT"". IKI RAN. Retrieved 2007-12-05.