Names | Explorer 79 HETE-2 |
---|---|
Mission type | High-energy astronomy |
Operator | NASA |
COSPAR ID | 2000-061A |
SATCAT no. | 26561 |
Mission duration | 18 months (planned) 7.5 years (achieved) |
Spacecraft properties | |
Spacecraft | Explorer LXXIX |
Spacecraft type | High Energy Transient Explorer |
Bus | HETE |
Manufacturer | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Launch mass | 124 kg (273 lb) |
Dimensions | 100 × 50 × 50 cm (39 × 20 × 20 in) |
Power | 168 watts |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | 9 October 2000, 05:38:18 UTC |
Rocket | Pegasus-H (F30) |
Launch site | Kwajalein Atoll |
Contractor | Orbital Sciences Corporation |
End of mission | |
Deactivated | March 2008 |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Geocentric orbit[1] |
Regime | Low Earth orbit |
Perigee altitude | 590 km (370 mi) |
Apogee altitude | 650 km (400 mi) |
Inclination | 1.95° |
Period | 95.70 minutes |
Instruments | |
French Gamma Telescope (FREGATE) Soft X-ray Camera (SXC) Wide Field X-Ray Monitor (WXM) | |
Explorer program |
High Energy Transient Explorer 2 (HETE-2; also known as Explorer 79) was a NASA astronomical satellite with international participation (mainly Japan and France). The satellite bus for the first HETE-1 was designed and built by AeroAstro, Inc. of Herndon, Virginia and was lost during launch on 4 November 1996; the replacement satellite, HETE-2 was built by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) based on the original HETE design.