Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer

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Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer
Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer
Type: X-ray telescope
Country: United StatesUnited States United States
Operator: National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationNASA NASA
COSPAR-ID : 1995-074A
Mission dates
Dimensions: 3200 kg
Begin: December 30, 1995, 13:48  UTC
Starting place: Cape Canaveral , LC-17A
Launcher: Delta-II-7920-10 D230
Status: inactive from January 5, 2012,
re-entry on April 30, 2018
Orbit data
Rotation time : 96.1 min
Orbit inclination : 23 °
Apogee height :  565 km
Perigee height :  583 km
Start of XTE

The Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer (abbreviation: RXTE , Project Title: X-Ray Timing Explorer ( XTE )) is a three-axis stabilized orbital X-ray satellite , the rapidly varying for the observation of high-energy X-ray sources, such as black holes , neutron stars , X - pulsars or other X-ray bursts started.

The telescope , named after the Italian astrophysicist Bruno Rossi , was launched on December 30, 1995 by a Delta-II-7920-10 rocket into a 580-kilometer-high, almost circular orbit with a 23 ° inclination to the equator.

After 16 years of use, the satellite was deactivated by NASA on January 5, 2012 . The three-axis stabilization was switched off and the RXTE was set in rotation. The Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer was then (January 2012) in a 460 kilometer high orbit with unchanged inclination and should enter the earth's atmosphere between 2014 and 2023. A more precise prediction of the entry date was not possible due to the fluctuations in solar activity .

After 16 years of work in orbit, it reentered the Earth's atmosphere on April 30, 2018 .

In 1999 , Hale Bradt and Jean Swank received the Bruno Rossi Prize for observations with the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer .

Web links

Commons : RXTE  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ XTE in the Encyclopedia Astronautica (English)
  2. ↑ a b Gunter's Space Page: Explorer: XTE (RXTE, Rossi) , accessed: February 16, 2012
  3. ↑ A Diagram of the RXTE Delta II Launch Vehicle on a page of NASA's HEASARC
  4. ↑ Chris Peat: XTE - Orbit. In: heavens-above. Retrieved April 12, 2012 .
  5. ↑ Stephen Clark: NASA turns off aging Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer in Spaceflight Now , Date: January 9, 2012, Accessed: January 12, 2012