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Astronomical Netherlands Satellite

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Astronomical Netherlands Satellite
The flight spare for the satellite
NamesAstronomische Nederlandse Satelliet
ANS
OperatorSRON/NASA[1]
COSPAR ID1974-070AEdit this at Wikidata
SATCATno.07427
Mission duration20 months[1]
Spacecraft properties
Launch mass129.8 kilograms (286 lb)
Start of mission
Launch dateAugust 30, 1974(1974-08-30)[1]
RocketScout
Launch siteVandenbergSLC-5[2]
End of mission
Decay date14 June 1977
Orbital parameters
Perigee altitude266 km[2]
Apogee altitude1176 km[2]
Period99.2 min[2]
Main
WavelengthsX-rayandultraviolet
Instruments
Hard X-Ray (1.5 to 30keV[3])
Ultraviolet (5 channels, 150 to 330nm[4])

TheAstronomical Netherlands Satellite(ANS;also known asAstronomische Nederlandse Satelliet) was aspace-basedX-rayandultraviolettelescope.It was launched intoEarth orbiton 30 August 1974 at 14:07:39 UTC in aScout rocketfromVandenberg Air Force Base,United States. The mission ran for 20 months until June 1976, and was jointly funded by theNetherlands Institute for Space Research(NIVR) andNASA.[1][2]ANS was the first Dutch satellite, and theMain Belt asteroid9996 ANSwas named after it.[5]ANS reentered Earth's atmosphere on June 14, 1977.

The telescope had an initial orbit with aperiapsisof 266 kilometres (165 mi), anapoapsisof 1,176 kilometres (731 mi), withinclination98.0° andeccentricity0.064048, giving it a period of 99.2 minutes.[2]The orbit wasSun-synchronous,and the attitude of the spacecraft could be controlled through reaction wheels. The momentum stored in the reaction wheels throughout the orbit was regularly dumped viamagnetic coilsthat interacted with theEarth'smagnetic field.The satellite also had two masses that were released shortly after orbit injection, to remove most of the satellite'sangular momentuminduced by the launcher. The attitude could be measured by a variety of techniques, includingsolar sensors,horizonsensors, star sensors and amagnetometer.[1]

ANS could measureX-rayphotons in the energy range 2 to 30keV,with a 60 cm2detector, and was used to find the positions ofgalacticand extragalactic X-ray sources. It also measured theirspectra,and looked at their variations over time.[1]It discoveredX-ray bursts,and also detected X-rays fromCapella.[5]

ANS also observed in theultravioletpart of the spectrum, with a 22 cm (260 cm2)Cassegraintelescope. Thewavelengthsof the observed photons were between 150 and 330nm,with the detector split into five channels with central wavelengths of 155, 180, 220, 250 and 330 nm.[4]At these frequencies it took over 18,000 measurements of around 400 objects.[1]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^abcdefg"NASA — NSSDC — Spacecraft — Details (ANS)".NASA.Retrieved2008-02-27.
  2. ^abcdef"NASA — NSSD — Spacecraft — Trajectory Details (ANS)".NASA.Retrieved2008-02-27.
  3. ^Gursky, H.; et al. (1 November 1975). "The Hard X-ray experiment on the Astronomical Netherlands Satellite".Astrophysical Journal.201:L127–L131.Bibcode:1975ApJ...201L.127G.doi:10.1086/181958.
  4. ^abvan Duinen, R. J; et al. (February 1975). "The ultraviolet experiment onboard the astronomical Netherlands satellite — ANS".Astronomy and Astrophysics.39:159–163.Bibcode:1975A&A....39..159V.
  5. ^ab"JPL Small-Body Database Browser".JPL,NASA.Retrieved2008-03-03.

Further reading[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toAstronomische Nederlandse Satelliet.
  • Bloemendal, W.; C. Kramer (1973). "The Netherlands astronomical satellite (ANS)".Philips Tech. Rev.33:117.

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