1996-027A
The Satellite per Astronomia a raggi X (X-ray Astronomy Satellite) or SAX was a joint project between ASI, ESA and the Dutch agency NIVR. SAX, built by Alenia with a mass of 1400 kg, carried out broad band spectral observations of X-ray sources from 0.1 to 200 keV using an imaging concentrator telescope. A wide field telescope observed perpendicular to the main instruments. The satellite was placed in a low inclination orbit by a two-burn Atlas Centaur mission.
After launch, SAX was renamed BeppoSAX to honor Guiseppe (Beppo) Occhialini (1907-1993), who was involved in early experimental research on positrons and pi mesons, and was a pioneer in Italian gamma ray and cosmic ray astronomy and closely associated with the founding of ESRO.
| SAX | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 Apr 30 | 0431:01 | Launch by Atlas I Centaur (AC-78) | CC LC36B |
| Azimuth 105.1 deg | |||
| T+2:34 BECO | |||
| T+2:37 Booster sep | |||
| T+2:59 Insulation panels sep | |||
| T+3:29 Fairing sep | |||
| T+4:35 Atlas SECO | |||
| 0436:36 | T+4:37 Atlas sep | ||
| 0436:56 | T+4:58 Centaur MES1 | ||
| 0442:00 | T+10:05 Centaur MECO1, transfer orbit | 250? x 605? x 28.6? | |
| 0456:40 | T+24:44 Centaur MES2 | ||
| 0458:20 | T+28:25? Centaur MECO2 | ||
| 0459:21 | T+29:21? Centaur sep | 96.55 581 x 605 x 4.0 | |
| 0522? | Centaur perigee lower | (95.13 462 x 587 x 4.0) | |
| 2002 Apr 30 | 1338 | end of ops | |
Payload:
- Narrow Field Instruments
- Concentrators
- MEGSPC Medium energy GSPC (3), 1-10 keV
- LEGPSC Low energy GSPC, 0.1-1 keV (ESTEC)
- PDS Phoswich detector system, 10-200 keV
- HEGSPC High energy GSPC, 3-120 keV
- Wide Field Instruments
- Coded Mask Telescope
- Wide Field Cameras, 20 deg FOV, 2-30 keV (NIVR)
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