ACRIMSAT

ACRIMSAT, for Active Cavity Radiometer Irradiance Monitor Satellite was a satellite that was part of NASA's Earth Observing System program. Acrimsat was launched on 20 December 1999 from Vandenberg Air Force Base about a Taurus rocket and placed into a sun-synchronous orbit where it continued long-term studies of the solar irradiance. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an agency of the United States federal government, responsible for the nations public space program. ... The Earth Observing System (EOS) is a program of NASA comprising a series of artificial satellite missions and scientific instruments in Earth orbit designed for long-term global observations of the land surface, biosphere, atmosphere, and oceans of the Earth. ... Boeing Delta 4 Medium+ (4,2) lifts off from Space Launch Complex Six (SLC-6) at Vandenberg AFB, California (Official photo by Thom Baur for the Boeing Company) Vandenberg Air Force Base (IATA: VBG, ICAO: KVBG) is a United States military installation with a spaceport, in Santa Barbara County, California... Taurus is an German/Swedish air-launched cruise missile, manufactured by EADS, Saab Bofors Dynamics and used by Germany and Sweden. ... By analogy with the geosynchronous orbit, a heliosynchronous orbit is a heliocentric orbit of radius 24. ... Solar irradiance spectrum at top of atmosphere. ...

ACRIMSAT carried the ACRIM III instrument which made precise measurements of the solar irradiance from 2000 to 2005, continuing measurements that had been made by instruments on Solar Max (1980-1989) and the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (1991-). ACRIMSAT made measurements during the 2004 transit of Venus, and measured the 0.1% reduction in the solar intensity caused by the shadow of the closer planet. Solar irradiance spectrum at top of atmosphere. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... The Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) is an orbital observatory whose mission is to study the Earths atmosphere, particularly the protective ozone layer. ... The 2004 transit of Venus A transit of Venus across the Sun takes place when the planet Venus passes directly between the Sun and Earth, obscuring a small portion of the Suns disk. ...

Richard C. Wilson of Columbia University was the principal investigator for the mission. The single-purpose satellite was constructed by Orbital Sciences Corporation for only $30 million, and weighed only 13 kg. Columbia University is a private research university in the United States. ... Orbital Sciences Corporation (OSC, though commonly abbreviated as Orbital) is a Dulles, Virginia company which specializes in satellite launch and manufacture. ...

External links

• Project homepage
• Press report at end of primary mission