1980-014A
The Solar Maximum Mission satellite, known colloquially as Solar Max, was a spacecraft based on the Fairchild MMS bus. The GSFC payload was designed to observe the Sun during the 1980 maximum of the sunspot cycle. It was the first satellite to be specifically designed for refurbishment or retrieval by the Shuttle and the first to carry a TDRS data link.
SMM was launched at 1557:00 on 1980 Feb 14 by a Delta 3910 from pad 17A at Cape Canaveral. It entered a 95.9 min, 566 x 569 km x 28.5 deg orbit. The first few months of observations were successful, but on Nov 13 the roll axis fuse in the attitude control module blew. Yaw control was lost on Nov 22 and pitch on Dec 11; SMM now could no longer make accurate observations of the Sun, although the magnetic torquer could keep it within 2 degrees, adequate for some of the instruments.
On 1984 Apr 8 astronaut George Nelson flying the MMU from the orbiter Challenger attempted to capture SMM, but was unsuccessful. Challenger's RMS captured the satellite on Apr 10, and on Apr 11 a new ACS module was installed while SMM was attached to the Fixed Service Structure in the payload bay. The coronagraph also underwent repairs. On Apr 12, SMM was redeployed in orbit and operated successfully for over 5 more years.
By 1989 Nov 6 its orbit had decayed to 90.78 min, 311 x 314 km x 28.5 deg, and end of life engineering tests were begun. The HGA (High Gain Antenna) was jettisoned on 1989 Nov 21 at 1852 when SMM was in a 89.74 min, 260 x 262 km x 28.5 deg orbit. The solar panels were jettisoned on Nov 24 at 1648 (only one was tracked) and at 2207 SMM was declared non-functional. By Nov 25.6 the orbit was 89.26 min, 236 x 239 km x 28.5 deg; at Dec 1.8 it was 87.9 min, 167 x 171 km x 28.5 deg. Reentry over the Indian Ocean occurred at 1026 on 1989 Dec 2.
| SMM | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 Feb 14 | 1557:00 | Launch by Delta | |
| T+0:57 SRM 1-5 out | |||
| T+1:04 SRM 1-3 sep | |||
| T+1:04 SRM 6-9 on | |||
| T+1:05 SRM 4-5 sep | |||
| T+2:01 SRM 6-9 out | |||
| T+2:08 SRM 6-9 sep, 47 km | |||
| T+3:45 Stage 1 MECO 111 km | |||
| 1601 | T+3:53 Stage 1 sep | ||
| 1601 | T+3:58 SES-1 | ||
| T+4:55 Fairing, 144 km | |||
| 1605:41 | T+8:41 SECO-1 | 195? x 573 x 28.50 | |
| 1651:41 | T+54:41 SES-2 dV = 0.112 km/s | ||
| 1651:53 | T+54:53 SECO-2 | ||
| 1708:00 | T+1:11:00 Stage 2 sep | 95.99 562 x 569 x 28.51 | |
| 1980 Feb 15 | 95.99 562 x 570 x 28.5 | ||
| 1980 Mar 6 | 96.03 567 x 569 x 28.5 | ||
| 1980 Nov 13 | Attitude control fuse problem | ||
| 1980 Nov 22 | Yaw control lost | ||
| 1980 Dec 11 | Pitch control lost | ||
| 1981 Mar 7 | 95.69 550 x 552 x 28.51 | ||
| 1984 Apr 7 | 94.54 495 x 497 x 28.51 | ||
| 1984 Apr 8 | Rendezvous by STS-41-C | ||
| 1984 Apr 10 | 94.53 494 x 497 x 28.51 | ||
| 1984 Apr 12 | Redeploy | ||
| 1984 Apr 13 | 94.54 495 x 496 x 28.51 | ||
| 1987 Dec 8 | 94.24 479 x 483 x 28.51 | ||
| 1989 Jan 8 | 93.69 454 x 456 x 28.50 | ||
| 1989 Nov 6 | 90.78 311 x 314 x 28.5 | ||
| 1989 Nov 21 | 1852 | HGA jettison | 89.74 260 x 262 x 28.5 |
| 1989 Nov 24 | 1651:39 | Solar panel jettison | |
| 2040 | Final telem contact via Bermuda | ||
| 2207 | unsuccessful contact attempt via MILA | ||
| 1989 Dec 1 | 87.9 167 x 171 x 28.5 | ||
| 1989 Dec 2 | 1026 | Reentry | |
Payload:
- XRP Soft X-ray polychromator 0.14-2.25nm (LPARL/Acton)
- GRE Gamma ray spectrometer 0.3-10 MeV (UNH/Chupp)
- HXIS Hard X-ray imaging spectrometer 3.5-30 keV (Utrecht/DeJager)
- HXRBS Hard X ray burst spectrometer <300 keV (GSFC/Frost)
- Coronagraph/polarimeter 1.7 to 6 Rsun 400-700nm; 1100-3000A reflector F=1.8m (HAO/House)
- UVSP UV spec/polarimeter (active areas and Earth aeronomy) (MSFC/Tandberg-Hanssen)
- ACRIM Active Cavity Radiometer Irradiance Monitor (FUV-FIR) (JPL/Willson)
