ROSAT
Satellite X-ray telescope / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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ROSAT (short for Röntgensatellit; in German X-rays are called Röntgenstrahlen, in honour of Wilhelm Röntgen) was a German Aerospace Center-led satellite X-ray telescope, with instruments built by West Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States. It was launched on 1 June 1990, on a Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral, on what was initially designed as an 18-month mission, with provision for up to five years of operation. ROSAT operated for over eight years, finally shutting down on 12 February 1999.
Names | ROSAT |
---|---|
Mission type | Space Telescope |
Operator | DLR / NASA |
COSPAR ID | 1990-049A |
SATCAT no. | 20638 |
Website | www |
Mission duration | 8 years and 8 months |
Spacecraft properties | |
Launch mass | 2,421 kilograms (5,337 lb) |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | 21:48:00, 1 June 1990 (UTC) (1990-06-01T21:48:00Z) |
Rocket | Delta II 6920-10 |
Launch site | Cape Canaveral LC-17A |
End of mission | |
Deactivated | 12 February 1999 |
Decay date | 23:00:00, 23 October 2011 (UTC) (2011-10-23T23:00:00Z) |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Geocentric |
Eccentricity | 0 |
Perigee altitude | 580 km (360 mi)[1] |
Apogee altitude | 580 km (360 mi) |
Inclination | 53° |
Period | 96 min |
Epoch | 1990-06-01 |
Main | |
Type | Wolter I |
Diameter | 84 centimetres (33 in) |
Focal length | 240 centimetres (94 in) |
Wavelengths | 30-0.06 nm, X-rays and Extreme Ultraviolet |
Resolution | 5 arc-s at half energy width[1] |
Instruments | |
Position Sensitive Proportional Counter Wide Field Camera High Resolution Imager | |
In February 2011, it was reported that the 2,400 kg (5,291 lb) satellite was unlikely to burn up entirely while re-entering the Earth's atmosphere due to the large amount of ceramics and glass used in construction. Parts as heavy as 400 kg (882 lb) could impact the surface.[2] ROSAT eventually re-entered the Earth's atmosphere on 23 October 2011 over the Bay of Bengal.[3]