RadioAstron
| RadioAstron | |
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Model at the ILA Berlin 2012 |
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| Type: | Space telescope |
| Country: | Russia |
| COSPAR-ID : | 2011-037A |
| Mission dates | |
| Dimensions: | 3,295 kg |
| Begin: | July 18, 2011, 02:31 UTC |
| Starting place: | Baikonur |
| Launcher: | Zenit-3F / Fregat -SB |
| Status: | Out of service |
| Orbit data | |
| Rotation time : | 8d 17h 05min |
| Orbit inclination : | 57.6924 ° |
| Apogee height : | 288,803 km |
| Perigee height : | 50,225 km |
| Eccentricity : | 0.6947 |
RadioAstron (also called Spektr-R ) is a former space telescope for interferometric observations in the radio range . The launch took place on July 18, 2011.
With RadioAstron, a radio telescope with a reflector diameter of 10 m was brought into an eccentric earth orbit with an orbit time of 9.5 days and the greatest earth distance of about 350,000 km. In cooperation with earth-based telescopes, the VLBI (radio interferometry) method should enable high-resolution observations in four ranges between 1.35 and 92 cm wavelength. In the range around 1.35 cm wavelength (frequencies from 18 to 25 GHz), a resolution of 7 micro-arcseconds should be achieved.
RadioAstron is an international project led by the Moscow Astrocosmic Center at the Lebedev Institute of Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences . More than 20 countries are involved.
The design operating time was 5 years, however, as is usual with such instruments, it was also operated beyond that. In January 2019, communication with the telescope failed. After unsuccessful attempts to re-establish contact, the mission was declared ended on May 30, 2019.
Web links
- Astro Space Center: RadioAstron (English / Russian)
- Gunter's Space Page: Spektr R (Radio-Astron) (English)
- NASA: RadioAstron (English)
- Raumfahrer.net: RadioAstron before the start
- Raumfahrer.net: RadioAstron started
- Raumfahrer.net: RadioAstron on record course
- Радиоастрон - взгляд во Вселенную (video)
Individual evidence
- ↑ SPEKTR R - Orbit. Retrieved November 29, 2014 .
- ↑ One-time astrophysics laboratory started in Russia. RIA Novosti, July 18, 2011, archived from the original on November 5, 2013 ; accessed on July 18, 2011 (English).
- ↑ Spektr-R radio telescope in space. Spektrum.de, November 29, 2011, accessed on January 13, 2019 .
- ↑ Alex Nantes: Russia: Spektr-R alias RadioAstron has problems. January 12, 2019, accessed January 13, 2019 .
- ↑ «Спектр-Р»: миссия закончена, обработка данных продолжается. Roscosmos, May 30, 2019, accessed May 31, 2019 (Russian).