- Astron (spacecraft)
Astron was a Soviet astrophysical spacecraft launched on
March 23 1983 at 12:45:06UTC by Proton launcher. [ [http://planet4589.org/space/log/launchlog.txt Jonathan McDowell's launchlog] ] It was based onVenera spacecraft design. Astron was operational for six years being the largestultraviolet space telescope of that time.Astron project was headed by one of the leading scientists in the field of extra-atmospheric astronomy [ru icon [http://www.inasan.rssi.ru/rus/WSO/history.html Spectr-UF Project History] ] - 1984 USSR State Prize laureate, Academician of the
USSR Academy of Sciences since 1987Alexander Boyarchuk . [ru icon [http://mirslovarei.com/content_bes/Bojarchuk-8125.html Alexander Boyarchuk] ] The spacecraft was designed and constructed by theCrimean Astrophysical Observatory andNPO Lavochkin , a group of scientists from these institutions was awarded theUSSR State Prize for this. [ru icon [http://www.crimea-portal.gov.ua/index.php?&art=1107 Crimean Astrophysical Observatory] ]Astron had an 80 cm
ultraviolet telescope , designed jointly by the USSR and France, and anX-ray spectroscope onboard. [ [http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/heasarc/missions/astron.html Astron Mission Profile] atNASA ] Being in a high orbit (apogee 185,000 km), it could make observations beyond the Earth's shadow andradiation belt .Among the most important observations by Astron were those of
SN 1987A supernova on March 4-12, 1987 [ [http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1987PAZh...13..739B Observations on Astron: Supernova 1987A in the Large Magellanic Cloud] .] and ofHalley's Comet in December, 1985, that allowed a group of Soviet scientists to develop a model of this comet's coma. [ [http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1986PAZh...12..696B A model for the coma of Comet Halley, based on the Astron ultraviolet spectrophotometry] ]ee also
*
Granat - A later space observatory based on the Venera spacecraft busBibliography
References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.