CRISTA

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CRISTA-SPAS 1 is of the Space Shuttle mission STS-66 exposed to

CRISTA (CRyogenic Infrared Spectrometers and Telescopes for the Atmosphere) SPAS (Shuttle Pallet Satellite) was a satellite instrument from the Bergische Universität Wuppertal . Its most important tasks were the measurement of trace gases and temperatures from the ground to the upper atmosphere for the purpose of basic research. CRISTA was launched into orbit by the Space Shuttle in 1994 and 1997 and returned to Earth after each two-week mission. The instrument has been in the Deutsches Museum in Munich since 2004 .

technology

CRISTA uses three telescopes and four spectrometers to measure infrared radiation in the wavelength range from 4 to 71 micrometers. Every 60 seconds, height profiles of 15 trace gases such as B. ozone , carbon dioxide and CFCs and the temperature. The optics and the 26 detectors are cooled by a cryostat with 725 liters of supercritical and 55 liters of supercooled helium to temperatures of up to 4 Kelvin. The simultaneous use of three telescopes made it possible to measure the earth's atmosphere with a high horizontal resolution.

The first mission

CRISTA-SPAS-1 was launched on November 3, 1994 at 11:59:43 AM EST as part of the STS-66 mission with the space shuttle Atlantis from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The device mounted on the Astro-SPAS satellite was deployed in an orbit with an inclination of 57 ° at an altitude of 300 km and then orbited the earth at a distance of 100 km from the space shuttle. On November 12th, Crista was caught again by the space shuttle's gripper arm and stowed in the cargo bay. The landing was on November 14, 1994 at 7:33:45 PST at Edwards Air Force Base , California.

The second mission

CRISTA-SPAS-2 was launched on August 7, 1997 at 10:41:00 AM EDT as part of the STS-85 Crista-Spas mission with the Space Shuttle Discovery, also from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This time, too, the instrument was mounted on the Astro-SPAS satellite and circled the earth with an orbit inclination of 57 ° at an altitude of 300 km. However, by constantly rotating the satellite, a larger latitude range from 73 ° S to 73 ° N could be measured. The measurement phase was exactly 8 days, 16 hours and 47 minutes. After successfully capturing the instrument, the Discovery landed back in Florida on August 19, 1997 at 7:07:59 AM EDT.

See also

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